The Beckett Clones
by LittleLizzieZentara
Summary: Princess Iya of the planet Amour is not happy that Castle and Beckett STILL haven't admitted their feeling for each other. Her mother, Queen Mam-Biki, has decided to force the issue. Potential spoilers for all episodes.
1. Chapter 1

** I've wanted to do a story based on the "Beckett clones" comment for a while now. It was finally after reading a story where a fan fiction author suggested someone doing a sci fi story based on Beckett clones that this idea came to me. This story is probably bordering on being crack fiction. You've been warned. :)**

"Are you KIDDING me?" Princess Iya shouted. "Three near death experiences in less than 48 hours and they STILL don't admit how they feel?"

Iya started pacing in front of the screen where the latest images of Richard Castle and Kate Beckett were being transmitted. The girls' waist-length rainbow colored hair swished as she stomped swiftly back and forth, the skirt of her blue dress that matched the color of her eyes swirling around her legs. Even as she moved, Iya's eyes were focused on the screen. She started to squeal in delight as Castle seemed to be making what any of Iya's world would see as an obvious attempt to prolong his time together with Beckett. Suddenly, Castle seemed to change his mind and Iya's excited squeal changed to an angry growl when the man she referred to as Dr. Motorcycle Boy appeared. Iya couldn't stand the man and figured that the nickname that Castle had given him was even too much of a compliment.

Queen Mam-Biki, supreme ruler of the planet Amour, couldn't help shaking her head at her daughter's intense reactions about people she had never really even met. She was even tempted to roll her own purple eyes in what Iya had dubbed "a classic Beckett eye roll." Over ten years ago the queen had given approval to a team of scientists to try to discover life on other nearby solar systems. The ruler had been somewhat surprised when, seven years later, a place known as New York had been discovered. For whatever reason, the transmission was sporadic and centered on two creatures of the planet, known as Richard Castle and Kate Beckett.

The princess had been in the throne room when Amour's top scientist, Yillis, had revealed their findings to the queen. After getting over the shock that the creatures of this distant planet spoke the same language as they, Iya was completely captivated by the alien creatures. She had immediately demanded to be informed whenever any new transmission came through.

Although Mam-Biki considered her daughter's reaction a tad extreme, she couldn't help but agree with her. What was with these creatures called humans? Particularly these two? True, the pair lacked the innate knowledge of when one met one's destined mate that Amourians possessed, but these two were bordering on ridiculous.

What more had to happen before Castle and Beckett admitted what was obvious to even those that barely knew them? The latest was Agent Fallon, a human that was deeply involved in Castle and Beckett's current case. Mam-Biki had lost count of how many other humans had picked up on the pair's emotional connection. She was sure, though, that Iya could give her the number and tell her all the names of each and every one.

Mam-Biki had hoped that Beckett's friend, Lanie, would have been able to talk some sense into the woman. Or that Castle's mother, Martha, would have been able to open her son's eyes to the truth. Unfortunately, although both Lanie and Martha had repeatedly made the attempt, neither was successful.

The queen decided that the time had come for her to put her own plan into action. She had gotten the idea when that actress, Natalie Rhodes, had come along. Beckett, Ryan and Esposito had been hiding from the woman when Ryan had said something about Beckett clones. Mam-Biki was certain the detective hadn't been serious in what he'd said, but it had given her an idea. Changing one's appearance to look like another was child's play with Amourian technology.

When it had been confirmed that there was indeed life on other planets, Mam-Biki had originally decided to leave the other beings alone. Amour was a peaceful society and it soon became clear that many on the distant planet were not particularly comfortable with the idea of life forms from anywhere other than their home planet. Besides, murdering one's fellow creatures seemed to be quite common on the planet the queen had discovered was called Earth. She was not at all comfortable with the idea of subjecting her people to that.

But by appearing like ordinary humans, it would be quite easy to give Castle and Beckett the helping hand they so clearly needed.

"Not to worry, kiddo," Mam-Biki told her daughter. 'Kiddo' was actually a nickname that the queen had picked up from Martha. The queen was quite surprised at how much of the lingo from these aliens that she and her daughter had picked up. "Mother has a plan. How would you like to finally meet your favorite detective?"

** The whole story is mapped out in my mind, and I'm hoping to have chapters up relatively quickly. Just FYI, my knowledge of space travel and astronomy is limited, which is why I put this in the fantasy rather than the sci fi category. As always, I'm really curious what you guys think of this, so please R&R.**


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter sure took longer to come together than I thought it would. Hopefully the next one will go faster.**

**Disclaimer: I can't BELIVE I forgot to put this in the last chapter. Although I think only an alien like Iya would seriously believe I owned these characters. Mam-Biki would probably just roll her eyes at the thought. :)**

Detective Kate Beckett couldn't believe the difference a few seconds could make. Standing next to Castle in front of that bomb, knowing that mere moments separated them from death, Kate realized that there was no one else she'd rather have by her side when she took her final breath. The feeling of Castle's hands holding her own was the only thing that kept her from a full-blown panic. When she had realized that Castle had stopped the bomb, nothing could keep her from throwing herself into his arms. Not because of any romantic feelings she had for the man, but as a way to express her relief and gratitude that they were alive. Castle's crazy ideas had gotten them out of some tight spots before, but never like this. The man had saved not only the two of them, but the thousands of people that would have perished in the blast.

It wasn't until over an hour later at the precinct that she'd spared Josh even the briefest thought. And that had been because the man's hand was on her shoulder. She'd been surprised to see him, but she'd been stunned at how surprised she'd been. It had felt like she'd been yanked from a dream that she hadn't wanted to leave.

Kate had forced herself to stay in Josh's arms, only allowing herself a last lingering look at Castle as the writer walked away. The detective had then forced herself to give her full attention to Josh. Her boyfriend had stayed for her. No one had ever done that before. Ever since Will had assumed that she would follow him wherever his FBI career took him, finding a man that would stay in New York had become of paramount importance to Kate. Leaving New York was not an option, not while her mother's murder remained unsolved. Her need to stay in New York was one of the main reasons she'd had her brief relationship with Tom Deming-he'd been a NYPD detective, just as she was. But it had taken almost losing Castle to realize that she wanted more.

No!

She couldn't think of that. Josh was her boyfriend now. Her boyfriend that had stayed. For her. At one time she may have had feelings for Castle, but just like Will, he had left. Yes, he'd come back. With his ex-wife in tow. He'd dated the woman for months before breaking it off with her. And Kate wasn't egotistical enough to think it had anything to do with her.

Even if it had, it didn't matter. It couldn't matter. It _wouldn't_ matter.

Castle never needed to know that the day when she finally accepted a date with Josh was the same day that Castle returned. Her partner didn't need to be made aware of the fact that she'd reached her decision as soon as he'd said she knew who he was in a relationship with. No way was she going to remain unattached when Castle had someone. She wasn't taking any chances of Castle thinking she'd spent the summer pining for him. Even if she kind of had. But she would take that secret to the grave.

Almost a week had passed since the bomb incident, and she wasn't any better at keeping her mind off of Castle than she'd been that first day. Maybe it would have helped if that night at the precinct hadn't been the last time she'd seen Josh. Once his supervisor at the hospital discovered that he wasn't going to Haiti, Josh's schedule had become packed. Josh had stayed, but they didn't have much more time together than if he had gone ahead and left.

But he _had _stayed. She couldn't forget that.

The day had been a long one, made even longer by the energy she had exerted to keep her thoughts off of Castle. Tough to do when the man spent the day shadowing her as she chased down leads. Especially when he'd been instrumental in helping her find those leads.

Kate was just about to get ready for bed when she heard an odd noise. She froze, listening intently. It was a sound she couldn't quite place, a cross between fingernails on a chalkboard and a faint mewl of a kitten.

She'd just put her hand on her gun when she was blinded by a bright flash of light. Spots danced before her eyes for a few moments before she could see clearly again.

Kate's first thought was that she had been knocked out by a bolt of lightning. But when she realized that she was no longer in her room, nor in a hospital, she immediately thought of secret government agents. The idea wasn't all that far-fetched, not even for her, the rational detective. After all, it had happened before. It had been late enough for it to be completely dark out and she and Castle had been chasing down leads when suddenly her car died. They had been trying to puzzle out what was wrong-after all, she'd just gotten a new car battery installed earlier that week-when there was a beam of light shinning down on them. The next thing she knew, she was in a dark room with a bright light in her face and some guy demanding answers when she didn't even know what the questions were. True, she and Castle had been in her car at the time, on a dark deserted road. This time, though, the agents would have needed to break into her apartment first.

That idea was immediately dismissed when she realized that the room she was in was brightly lit. She clearly saw that the room was bathed entirely in white and empty of furniture except for the chair on which she was sitting. The government agents had kept her and Castle in dark rooms where they hadn't been able to make out anything, especially with the shinning bright lights the men had aimed at their faces. Although the room she was now in wasn't any brighter than it would have been on a sunny summer day.

And she was alone.

Kate wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Her hands weren't tied either, she noted next. When she'd been taken by the mysterious agents they'd tied her hands behind her back.

Realizing her hands were free, Kate felt for her gun, breathing a sigh of relief when she felt the familiar steel. Whoever had taken her obviously didn't mean her any harm, since they'd let her keep her weapon.

She smiled when she realized that if Castle had been with her, his mind would have immediately gone to the theory of being abducted by aliens. Which of course was- Kate's inner musings were interrupted by the faint sound of footsteps. She tensed, going into her automatic detective mode, prepared for anything.

Anything, except for what happened next.

The sound of footsteps stopped. A moment later a portion of the wall directly in Kate's line of sight dissolved. Kate didn't have time for that anomaly to fully register in her mind before she saw that whomever was standing where part of the wall had been a moment ago was _definitely_ not an agent, government or otherwise.

"Shut the front door," Kate breathed.

The creature-Kate wasn't sure what to call it-smiled and let out a delighted laugh. Kate could do nothing more than stare in shocked silence. She wasn't sure what to think, but suddenly Castle's alien theory didn't seem all that far-fetched. There was no way the being before her was human. She supposed it could be some sort of movie prop, but she lived nowhere near a movie studio. Even if she did, there was no way even Hollywood could come up with something like this without computers and blue screens and a bunch of special affects.

The creature's basic shape resembled humans, for the most part. It had only one head, Kate noted with relief. She had seen too many sci fi movies where two headed beings were _not _friendly. That head, though, had hair flowing from it that was the color of a rainbow and arched like one. The eyes were a shocking blue, their shape reminding Kate of the eyes of a cat. The pupil was not black, like she would have expected, but another rainbow in color. The nose was shaped very much like a human one, but it was stark white, as was the rest of the creature's skin. Lips the same blue color as the eyes covered teeth that were as translucent as glass, reflecting the blue tongue in the creature's mouth. The shoulders, arms and torso were shaped like a human's, but the hands were heart-shaped with two fingers growing out of each half, tapered with fingernails with the same translucent appearance as the teeth in the creature's mouth.

The legs and feet were shaped like a human's, Kate noticed with relief, although the toe nails were as clear as the fingernails were. As alien as the creature was, at least he/she/it didn't look like a blob or a lizard, or something.

"Castle was wrong," Kate finally said to the still smiling creature. "You're not a little green man."

"He said that they were gray, actually," the creature finally spoke, it's voice lyrical. "You were the one that said they were green."

Kate's eyes grew wide at that. The creature was right!

"How did you know that?" Kate asked. She was somewhat surprised she was able to form coherent sentences so soon after receiving such a shock. Maybe Castle's theories had prepared her for the unexpected much more than she'd realized.

"We'll get to that shortly," the creature said, "but I think first introductions are in order, don't you?"

Maybe the shock hadn't receded as much as she thought. Kate remembered that when she'd been taken by that agent, asking who he was had been one of the first things she'd done.

"So who are you?" Kate wanted to know. She knew she was being rude, but she didn't know the proper etiquette for conversing with aliens, anyway. "_What_ are you?"

"I am called Iya, princess of the planet Amour."

* * *

><p>It was only years of training that kept Iya from squealing in glee and jumping up and down in excitement. Although she had followed the adventures of this detective for over two years now, the princess had never really thought she would get to meet her.<p>

_This must be how Beckett felt when she met that baseball player_, Iya thought. She wasn't entirely sure what baseball was; the information she had gleaned from the transmitter hadn't given her much data on that particular topic. It made her wish that Castle and Beckett would go to a baseball game, just so she could see what one was like. Iya had been confused when she'd seen that particular moment in the humans' lives. She'd discovered almost from the very beginning that Beckett was a fan of Castle's books. Why had the detective reacted as if Castle was no one special when she met the man, but could barely speak when facing a baseball player? Maybe that was something she would discover during the course of her time among the humans.

Iya couldn't hold back her laughter at Beckett's first words in reaction to seeing an alien for the first time. Iya still wasn't quite sure what shutting a door had to do with being surprised, but the phrase had quickly become a favorite of hers. The princess felt honored that Beckett had said it in her presence.

She hadn't been the least bit surprised by the "little green man" comment, though. Iya had laughed at the thought. It made her wonder where the detective had come up with such an idea. Castle's assertion that aliens were little gray men had made her smile, until she had seen the book the man had been holding. From what she'd been able to glean from the case where Castle had spent a majority of the time thinking aliens were involved, those gray men were not a peaceful race. She just hoped that Beckett was right and that there was another explanation for the abductions of all of those people that man, Striker she remembered his name was, wrote about.

The look that Beckett leveled on her made Iya wonder if she was about to be interrogated. Iya wasn't sure if she was more offended or excited. She would love to see the detective in action. But Iya was no criminal, certainly not a murderer. From what Iya had been able to figure out, those were the only kind of criminals the detective dealt with.

"You already know who I am, don't you?" Beckett finally said.

Iya nodded. "Katherine Beckett, NYPD detective, 12th precinct."

"And you know Castle."

"I know who he is," Iya corrected. "I haven't yet had the opportunity to meet him. But that will come in time."

"So you'll be kidnapping him, too?"

"I won't need to," Iya said. "Once he finds out that you are here, he will come quite willingly."

"So I'm bait to capture Castle?"

Iya couldn't hold back her chuckle at that. "What a world you live in, detective, to make you so suspicious."

"What do you plan to do with us, then?" Beckett demanded to know.

"We're not here to study you or to do you harm," Iya assured her. "We're here to help."

"Help?" Iya could see that the human was having a difficult time wrapping her mind around that one. "Help us how? By giving us your advanced technology to cure our diseases? Or 'help' us by draining our resources and making us slaves?"

Iya sighed. "I do wonder where you humans get your ideas from. My guess is that is how your race would treat any aliens they encountered. We have no plans to give you our advanced technology; something tells me your race would merely use it to destroy yourselves. As for enslaving you, we enslave no one. We are a peaceful race and we intend to remain that way. You and Castle will be the only ones that know of our existence. You could inform others, I suppose, but my guess is that only a select few would believe you. And fortunately for us, we are far enough away that it will most likely be hundreds of years before you ever discover our planet."

"Then what do you mean by 'help?'" Beckett asked.

"You and Castle are in dire need of help, Detective Beckett," Iya said solemnly.

"Castle and I? What do you mean?"

"Three times, Beckett," Iya said, a trace of her annoyance seeping through. "Three times in less than forty-eight hours you and Castle thought you were at death's door. And yet, both of you said nothing."

Beckett's confusion was clear on her face. "About what?"

"The fact that you are destined mates," Iya explained.

"Destined mates?" Beckett repeated the words slowly. "Does that mean what I think it does?"

"You refuse to admit your love for Richard Castle," Iya said. "I'm here to change that."

**Hopefully I was able to keep Beckett fairly in character. She may have taken longer to convince if something like this happened on the show, but I didn't want to bog the story down with that. Please R&R and let me know what you guys think. Oh, and any ideas you have for 'fun and mischief' that the aliens could cause for Castle and Beckett would be eagerly welcomed.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Finally, chapter 3 is ready. I can't believe how much longer this story is taking to write. I want to make sure I give this story my best, though, so I may have to suspend my short time between updates rule for this one. Sorry about that.**

**Disclaimer: I almost forgot this AGAIN! Since there are no aliens on the show, I obviously don't own it.**

"I'm sorry, what?"

Beckett's question told Iya in an instant everything she needed to know about how the detective felt about what she had just been told. Iya recognized it all-Beckett's facial expression, the tone she used and the words themselves. It was all identical to the reaction she'd had when Natalie Rhodes had asked if Castle was gay. Iya wasn't sure what 'gay' meant, but she figured whatever it was, Castle most certainly was not. Beckett reacting the same way to Iya's words told the princess that the detective felt aliens helping her with her relationship with Castle was every bit as much of an absurd idea. Iya wondered if it was just the fact that she was being helped by an alien that the detective was having a difficult time dealing with, or that an alien would think that she would need help at all.

Probably both, Iya decided.

Iya just couldn't get over how much fun she was having. The princess had always enjoyed her work in helping destined mates iron out their relationship issues, but the situation with Castle and Beckett was something she had never come across before. Amourians believed that no relationship was more important than the one between destined mates. No Amourian would even think of denying the connection. But Kate Beckett was determined to do just that.

"I am here to help you admit that you are in love with Castle," Iya said patiently. The alien found it ironic that Beckett seemed to be having a more difficult time accepting what Iya had said than she'd had accepting the truth of Iya's existence in the first place.

Maybe it was because Beckett needed proof. Since Iya was standing mere feet away from her, Beckett couldn't very well deny her existence since the proof was right in front of her. Iya had watched the detective long enough to know if there was no proof, no evidence, Beckett would not accept the truth of anything, no matter who said it. Even if it was an alien that had crossed five solar systems to deliver the message.

Iya wasn't worried. By the time she and her mother were through, both Beckett and Castle would have more than enough evidence to accept and admit the truth.

The words kept playing in Kate's mind like a broken record: here to help you admit that you are in love with Castle...here to help you admit you're in love with Castle...here to help you admit you are in love with Castle...

No one had ever stated it so bluntly before. Her high school friend, Maddie, had accused her of being "hot" for Castle. Others, Agent Fallon among them, merely assumed that she and Castle were together. Natalie Rhodes had been closet in calling Kate on her feelings, accusing Kate of denying feelings she "clearly had for him." No one, not even Lanie, had ever used the word 'love' to describe Kate's feelings for Castle. Now the first one to do so just happened to be an alien. Kate could only imagine what Castle would make of that!

Kate wasn't quite sure how to respond. She could try denying it, as she usually did when someone confronted her with having feelings for Castle. Something told her, though, that wouldn't work. The alien princess was convinced of the truth of her words, Kate could see that.

If she were dealing with an actual human, Kate would have a much better idea of how to proceed. She would merely roll her eyes and walk away, knowing that it was none of the person's business how she felt about Castle or anyone else.

She wasn't dealing with a human, though. And even though Iya had insisted that she was a peaceful being, Kate didn't want to press her luck. Her years as a cop had taught her that even the most seemingly easy-going person had their breaking point. She didn't want to take any chances with the princess. There were simply too many unknowns for Kate to be anything other than extremely cautious.

"So what happens now?" Kate finally asked.

Iya didn't say a word. The alien simply looked intently at her, a variety of emotions showing through her blue eyes. Kate noticed excitement, followed by disappointment. Uncertainty shone in the alien's eyes when she asked, "Are you ready to admit it? Already?"

Kate wasn't sure what to say.

Should she admit the truth, that thinking too deeply about her feelings for Castle terrified her?

No, that didn't seem to be the best idea. For one thing, being vulnerable with a stranger didn't sit well with Kate.

Maybe she should just say that she l-

Kate couldn't do it. Her heart clenched even at the idea of having those three words passing through her mind, let alone passing through her lips.

"Darling, everything's ready," a new voice spared Kate from having to respond to the alien's inquiry.

Kate looked away from the princess over to the other side of the room and wished she hadn't. Standing just inside the room was another alien, obviously the same type as the princess. But this alien was a few inches taller and had slight wrinkles around its eyes. Instead of being blue, those eyes were purple. That wouldn't have thrown Kate so much if it weren't for the fact that the creature's lips were purple, too.

"Mother, we may not need to do anything," Iya said. "Beckett might be ready now to admit that she loves Castle. She didn't deny it, just like she didn't when Maddie accused her of wanting to have little Castle babies. Although she had the same shocked look on her face as she did when Natalie asked her for permission to sleep with him, so..."

"I highly doubt it, dear," the new mysterious alien said. Kate noted that while the voice was as lyrical as Iya's, this alien's voice was more of an alto whereas the princess sounded more like a soprano. "After all, this is Detective Beckett we're dealing with. She has had numerous times over the last few months since Castle got back from the Hamptons to admit how she feels. I seriously doubt merely the shock of seeing us and having you call her on her feelings is enough to break through her stubborn denial."

Suddenly, the unknown alien turned to Kate and asked, "Isn't that right, detective?"

Kate wasn't exactly sure why, but at the question she went from shocked alien abductee to irritated NYPD detective. She didn't know if her badge had any clout on a spaceship. Regardless, she was going to get some answers.

"I am not telling you a thing until I get some answers," Kate said. "How do you know so much about me? And Castle?"

"It's not because we put tracking devises in you," Iya said. "In case that's what you were thinking."

Kate watched with some surprise when the unknown alien rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe how much the action looked like her own frequent reaction to something Castle had said.

"Iya, we are not dealing with Castle right now," the alien reminded her daughter. "Beckett's mind doesn't work like that."

"But it can," Iya countered. "I mean, yeah, it's usually Castle that comes up with the wild theories. But Beckett comes up with theories, too. And she can think like Castle when she wants to. Remember when Castle wouldn't spin a theory about Kyra possibly killing that bridesmaid? She came up with the theory then. Remember, she said 'That's not what Richard Castle would say' and then..."

Kate vaguely remembered that conversation. She and Castle had been investigating the murder of a bridesmaid when they ran into Kyra Banks, whom Kate had soon learned had been Castle's first great love. Castle had refused to entertain the idea that Kyra could have been the killer, and so Kate had called him on it.

"Iya, that's enough!" the alien interrupted sharply. "I'm sure you would be content to spend all of the time we have here trying to impress Beckett with all that you've memorized, but that's not why we're here."  
>For a moment Kate was shocked out of her detective persona. The princess had <em>memorized<em> stuff she had said? And apparently quite a few things she'd said if the other alien's statement was anything to go by.

And she thought Castle staring at her was creepy!

"Please forgive our rudeness," the older alien said. "Sometimes Iya gets overly excited and loses focus." Ignoring Iya's scowl at that, the alien continued, "I am called Mam-Biki, queen of Amour. I am sure you have plenty of questions, but I believe it would be far simpler to show you rather than try to explain it all here. So, if you would follow us," Mam-Biki gestured to the area on the other side of the door, "we would be happy to answer all of your questions."

Kate was quick to do as the queen suggested. She really didn't want to find out exactly how much the princess had memorized regarding her and Castle.

Kate followed the two aliens down a short hallway that reminded her of a hospital corridor. On the other side was the last thing she had been expecting. She'd been all ready to see something resembling the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars or the USS Enterprise from Star Trek. What she actually saw was nothing like that.

Instead, what she saw was-Kate blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing correctly-the first floor of Castle's loft, minus the spiral staircase.

"How...what...?" Kate couldn't make sense of it.

"It's an illusion," Mam-Biki explained. "I decided you will be receiving enough surprises as it is; you may as well be around something familiar while you're here."

"But why Castle's loft?" Kate asked. "Why not my own apartment?"

"That would defeat our purpose," Mam-Biki said. "You go to your apartment to get away from Castle and I'm sure you create your strongest denials there. You are here to admit your true feelings for Rick Castle. Having the look of his loft surround you will help you keep that at the forefront of your mind."

"Mother!" Iya's appalled voice rang out. "What are you doing? Are you trying to freak her out?"

Kate was about to point out that she'd been "freaked out" ever since she first laid eyes on Iya when she followed the princess's gaze and saw what had captured the younger alien's attention. Over where the kitchen cupboards would be in Castle's real loft, there was a huge screen. And on that screen Kate saw herself and Castle walking down a dark lot. Kate's face drained of color as she realized that she recognized what she was seeing. She flinched as she heard the laugh coming from the woman on the screen. Although the sound was somewhat muffled, the detective was able to easily make out what her screen self said: "He's not buying it, Castle."

Kate knew she should look away. She had tried for weeks to put the incident behind her, to act like it was nothing more than a ploy to get past a suspicious guard. The nights she had relived this experience in her dreams easily gave lie to that idea.

Emotions slammed into her as she watched. Something about seeing it all unfold right before her eyes gave the whole thing a sense of reality that had been lacking while she had been standing there with Castle all those weeks ago. She could almost feel Castle's hand on hers again as on the screen he put his hand over hers to keep her from drawing her gun. The side of her head tingled as she watched Castle bury a hand in her hair. Her breath caught when she saw the intense look in Castle's eyes before he slowly closed the distance between them. Over time she had somehow forgotten just how piercing that look had been.

Kate's heart started pounding as she watched Castle's lips cover hers. She knew the first kiss had not lasted long, but the seconds that passed seemed endless as it unfolded before her eyes. The memory of the soft brush of his lips against hers brought forth an intense longing to have it happen again.

As she watched the second kiss begin, she was amazed that she'd had enough presence of mind left to spare the guard a swift glance to make sure he was being taken in by their ruse. Kate clenched her fists to keep herself from giving into the temptation to reach out and touch the screen, to brush her fingers over Castle's shoulders.

Kate's heart sank when she saw the look on her face after the second kiss ended and she'd knocked out the guard. All Castle would have had to have done was look into her eyes to see how powerfully that second kiss had impacted her.

Thankfully, he hadn't, not really. Instead he had been dealing with his own reaction. Kate couldn't suppress a smile as she watched the awkward way Castle tried to convince her that he'd been talking about her handling of the guard rather than the kiss when he'd said "That was amazing." At the time she'd been too focused on freeing Ryan and Esposito-and trying to act like the kiss had been nothing at all-to notice anything unusual in Castle's behavior. Looking at it from a relative distance, she could see that Castle had been every bit as affected as she had. A small giggle escaped as she watched the man bring his fingers to his lips, as if trying to convince himself it had really happened. The moment reminded her of the many times when she had rendered him speechless.

"Wow," Iya's lyrical voice snapped Kate's attention away from the screen. When she looked over at the alien princess Kate was startled to see the awed look in her bright blue eyes. The younger alien's lips curved in a smile and suddenly she was beaming at Kate, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "That was _awesome_!" she exclaimed.

Kate couldn't keep from shaking her head and rolling her eyes at the dramatic reaction. Particularly since the detective was sure that Iya had seen it all before. Considering what Mam-Biki had said about Iya's memorizing, Kate wouldn't be entirely surprised if the scene had even been viewed dozens of times. She was grateful for the princess's reaction, however, since it had helped her clear her mind and calm her emotions.

"How did you get that footage?" Kate asked Mam-Biki. "I know there were no security cameras around."

"From our transmitter," Mam-Biki explained.

"We didn't even leave our planet until after Castle defused the bomb," Iya put in.

Kate thought about that for a minute before saying, "Exactly how long have you been watching me and Castle?"

"Since the Tisdale case," Iya supplied promptly, referring to the first case Kate and Castle had worked together. "The first thing we saw was you heading to that crime scene. And Castle at his book launch party. The transmitter kept jumping back and forth between you and Castle. Actually, it still does that when you guys aren't together. It's kind of odd, really."

"But very helpful," Mam-Biki said. "There are quite a few things that you aren't aware of concerning Castle, Detective Beckett."  
>"So why, as far away as your planet must be, did your transmitter focus exclusively on us?" Kate wanted to know. "Or were you able to see other parts of the world, too?"<p>

"Just you and Castle," Mam-Biki said. "Even Yillis, our top scientist, is not entirely sure why that is. His guess is because, if there were no other planets or other obstacles in the way, we could drive a straight line between where the transmitter is located in the palace and your New York."

"I think I need to sit down for a minute," Kate said, putting a hand to her head.

"That works out perfectly," Mam-Biki said. "It would be best for you to be sitting for this next part, anyway."

"Next part?" Kate repeated worriedly.

"Yes," Mam-Biki said. "It's time for the interrogation."

**So is anyone still with me on this story? I'm hoping there won't be more than a week between updates, but with this story, I won't make any promises. As always, please let me know what you guys think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I was planning on the interrogation being only one chapter, but it took a few twists and turns I wasn't expecting. You'd think I'd be used to that by now, but it still takes me by surprise when that happens. It's already longer than the other chapters, and I think I might only be halfway done. Anyway, here is the first half of the interrogation of Detective Kate Beckett.**

Interrogation?

What did that mean, exactly?

Now Kate _really_ needed to sit down.

The detective looked around the room, wondering where she could get off her feet for a few moments. Since the look of Castle's loft was just an illusion, Kate had no way of knowing what was really there. Where she could see kitchen chairs may be nothing but empty space. The same thing could be said about the couch in the middle of the room.

"Is something wrong, Detective?" Mam-Biki asked.

"Um..." Kate wasn't quite sure how to explain.

"I know!" Iya said. "I bet Earth hasn't progressed to the level of being able to create solid illusions yet. Am I right?"

Stunned, all Kate could do was nod.

"They really are a primitive race, aren't they?" Mam-Biki muttered to herself. She shook her head in amazement before addressing Kate directly. "You can sit wherever you like without fear, Detective. Our planet has been able to make solid illusions for centuries."

Since Kate's legs were starting to shake and she wasn't sure how much longer they would support her, she went over to the couch and gingerly sat down. She was startled at the softness of the cushion beneath her. It truly felt exactly the same as the few times she had sat in the couch at the real loft.

"You'll want to close your eyes for a moment," Mam-Biki said once Kate was settled. "We've never attempted this in front of humans before."

Kate was quick to take the queen up on her suggestion. Judging from everything she had seen and heard so far, she was fairly certain she knew what was coming. But she'd really rather not have to see how such a thing was accomplished.

"Mother, I hadn't thought of that," Kate heard Iya say. "You don't think it will hurt her, do you?"

"Not at all," Mam-Biki assured her daughter. "However, I don't want to take any chances."

Kate was surprised that there was no sound, only flashes of light of various colors hinted at through her eyelids. The air around her felt slightly warmer than it had before, but nothing that was uncomfortable.

"All right, Detective, you can open your eyes now," Mam-Biki said, her voice seeming to come from a great distance.

Slowly Kate opened her eyes and immediately noticed that her guess was right. The sight of Castle's loft had been changed to that of one of the interrogation rooms at the precinct. The feeling of the couch at the loft had changed to that of one of the hard chairs suspects were made to sit in when Kate or one of the other officers interrogated them.

But where had Iya and Mam-Biki gone?

Kate quickly looked around, wondering why they had left. If one or both of them were going to interrogate her, surely they needed to be present to do so.

Kate braced herself when she heard a door opening. She could do this. She was a seasoned detective. Even in the short time she'd been around them, she was sure she had a general grasp of each alien's personality. Whether it was Iya, Mam-Biki or both aliens together that conducted the interrogation, Kate was sure she was up for the challenge. Eventually the aliens would just have to admit defeat and send her back. Then not even Castle would need to know about the strange circumstance in which she found herself. The mere thought made her shudder. If Castle was made aware of what was going on, she'd never hear the end of it.

Kate looked over towards the door to discover which alien she was going to be dealing with and gasped. It wasn't an alien at all that was walking into the room. Instead it was...for the second time Kate wasn't quite sure she was seeing correctly. Seeing Castle's loft was one thing, but watching a duplicate of herself heading towards her was the last thing she would have expected.

And the person didn't just look like her. The posture, the facial expression, even the measured steps all mirrored the way Kate always entered an interrogation room. Not even Natalie Rhodes had been able to capture her mannerisms so completely.  
>"How...? What...? Who...?"<p>

"I'm sure this is all very confusing for you," the Beckett look-alike said as she sat down across from Kate, putting the file she held on the table between them. "To keep things simple, you can just consider me one of those Beckett clones that Detective Ryan mentioned. Except I'm not here to attack, so you don't need to worry about a preemptive strike."

The words sounded vaguely familiar. It took a few moments for the memory to crystallize in Kate's mind. She, Castle and Ryan had all been watching Natalie Rhodes imitating the way Kate would study the whitewash murder board when Ryan had joked about a Beckett clone army attacking. Kate, having had more than enough of Natalie's copying her by that point, had made the 'preemptive strike' comment.

Wait a minute. This 'Beckett clone' seemed to remember the incident better than Kate herself did. Which meant that there was only one creature it could be.

"Iya, _why _have you made yourself look like me?" Kate was starting to wonder if Iya was going to bother her even more than Natalie had.

"It's more fun this way," Iya said with a totally Iya-like grin, which looked odd on her Beckett-like features. "Besides, no one is better at interrogations than you. You can even make hardcore criminals cry. Who better to emulate?"

"So you're going to try to make me cry?" Kate asked with a disbelieving snort.

"Of course not!" Iya's Beckett eyes flashed with indignation. "The only time I ever saw you cry was when you couldn't save Coonan." Kate winced at the memory. Kate and Castle had just figured out that Dick Coonan was the one whom had actually killed her mother. When they confronted the man, he had grabbed Castle and threatened to shoot him if he wasn't allowed to escape. Kate had ended up having to shoot Coonan to keep the man from shooting Castle. That action had severed any chances of Kate's finding out who had actually hired Coonan to commit the murder.

Kate's distress over the memory didn't go unnoticed by Iya. "Sorry," Iya said, a flash of true remorse in her eyes. Then the determined look reappeared. "The point is I would have to cause you unbelievable emotional pain for you to actually cry. That's something I'm trying to avoid, not cause."

"By way of an interrogation?" Kate asked skeptically.

"For starters," Iya said.

Kate was starting to get a headache trying to figure out the workings of the alien princess's brain. "Fine, let's just get this over with," she said with a weary sigh.

Iya's Beckett eyes locked with Kate's as she said, "How long have you known Mr. Castle?"

Kate couldn't help it; she rolled her eyes. "You know the answer to that question," she said confidently. "You even saw when I met him."

"About that," Iya said. "Why didn't you go all fan-girl on him?"

"What?" That hadn't been a question Kate had been expecting.

"You went all fan-girl with Joe Torres," Iya elaborated, "a mere baseball player. And yet, when you met Rick Castle, the man whose books got you through your mother's death, you acted like he was nothing more than a suspect. Why?"

The differences between her reactions to meeting Castle and meeting Joe Torres had never really crossed her mind before. She _had_ been awe-struck when she had met the famous player. At the time all she could keep thinking was how excited her father would be to hear the news. It brought back memories of when she was a little girl going with her father to Yankees games. The first year, when she was only four years old, he had even gotten season tickets. She had felt so special each time when, instead of taking one of his baseball-loving buddies, her father had taken her. The stadium had seemed magical to her young mind. She had felt like that awestruck little girl all over again when she had been face to face with an actual player.

Kate didn't want to think too deeply about how she felt meeting Castle for the first time. Although she obviously had hid most of her internal reactions when she first laid eyes on the writer since Iya hadn't noticed anything-Kate just _knew _the princess had probably analyzed every single expression she'd had that the transmitter had picked up-Kate hadn't been as unaffected by Castle as she'd appeared to be.

"Castle _was _nothing more than a suspect," Kate pointed out, hoping that would be enough to satisfy the curious alien.

"He wasn't," Iya argued, leaning slightly closer to Kate. "Not by a long shot."

Kate sighed. So much for that idea. "Okay, fine. The fact was it didn't matter what I personally thought about him. At the time, he was a suspect in a murder investigation. I wasn't about to let personal feelings get in the way of the job."

"Personal feelings?" Iya smiled slyly

"About him as an author," Kate clarified, "and what his books mean to me."

"I'll buy that," Iya said. "How would you describe your relationship with him now?"

"He's my partner and one of my two best friends," Kate answered. Kate knew that Iya would know the other best friend she was referring to was Lanie.

"But he's not," Iya surprised Kate by disagreeing. "Ryan and Esposito are partners. You and Castle are..."  
>"Partners," Kate said firmly. "It doesn't matter that he isn't actually a cop. Well, it matters, but not in the context of him being my partner. He has been instrumental in helping me solve a lot of cases. You can't deny that."<p>

Iya's eyes lit up and for a brief moment she beamed at the detective. Kate could hardly keep herself from groaning. She'd walked right into that one. For a long time she hadn't wanted to admit how much of a difference Castle made in solving cases. Depending on how far Iya was planning to take her Detective Beckett persona, it was entirely possible that the young alien was working on building a case that would force Kate to admit how she really felt about Castle. Getting her to admit how much help Castle had given on cases would be a great first step, Kate knew.

"So you're partners," Iya said, falling easily back into the Beckett persona. "I'd like to ask you a few questions about that partnership."

"I thought you already were," Kate said.

Iya leveled her with a glare. Kate wasn't intimidated; well not much, anyway. It was the same glare she frequently gave suspects that didn't treat her with the respect she deserved as a cop. At the same time, Kate couldn't let herself forget that although Iya was acting like her, she wasn't. The detective knew how she herself would react in most situations, but she wasn't quite as confident about what an alien pretending to be her would do.

"I have many witnesses that have stated that they think that you and Castle are more than friends," Iya said. "What do think they've seen that would make them say that?"

"It depends on whom you're referring to," Kate said.

"Will Sorenson, Jordan Shaw, your high school friend Maddie and Agent Fallon for starters," Iya said.

Kate had been merely stalling in asking the question. She had been pretty sure that she knew to whom Iya had been referring. And she'd been right. Will Sorenson, her one time boyfriend, had said that Castle cared for Kate while drugged up on pain medication. Jordan Shaw, another agent, had mentioned Castle caring for her after observing them while the three worked on a case together. Maddie had thrown the "hot for Castle" line while Kate had had her in an interrogation room for questioning. Agent Fallon's had been little more than a passing comment.

"Even Detective Demming asked Castle if you were together before he made his move," Iya went on.

Kate's eyes widened slightly at that. Neither Castle nor Demming had ever told her about that. "What did he say?" she couldn't resist asking.

"He asked if there was something going on between you and Castle," Iya told her.

Kate was instantly irritated at herself. She shouldn't care that Demming had talked to Castle about her. The problem was she did. "What did Castle say?"

"He said no," Iya said. "He said there was 'no flag on the play,' whatever that means."

"It's a sports reference," Kate said absently. She couldn't believe that Castle said 'no.' Even though that had been the truth, she would have thought he would have jumped at the chance to warn Demming away from her. Sure, it would have irritated her at the time, but she felt a surprising disappointment at the thought of Castle not even _trying_ to keep her from entering into a relationship with someone else.  
>"Baseball?" Iya asked excitedly.<p>

"No, flag football," Kate said, still absorbed in her thoughts. She was surprised when Iya remained silent for a couple minutes after that.

Finally, the princess said, "You broke up with Demming to go with Castle to the Hamptons."

"And he ended up going with his ex-wife," Kate countered. There was no point in denying the claim. She was sure Iya had seen it all for herself.

"But he asked you first," Iya reminded her. "He would have never gone with Gina if you had agreed to go in the first place."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Kate said.

"Actually, it does," Iya surprised her in saying.

"Why?" Kate couldn't help asking.

"You'll find out about that soon enough," Iya said mysteriously. "It may help you to know that Castle and Gina weren't in love, at least not the second time they tried to make their relationship work. Personally, I don't think they were the first time. But I can't be certain."

"What makes you so sure about the second time?" Kate asked.

"He specifically said to Martha, 'You know what the problem is, neither one of us are in love.'"

Kate didn't bother to ask if Iya was sure she had heard Castle correctly. Chances were high that the alien had watched that part of the transmission almost as much as she probably had of the one of Kate and Castle kissing. The relief Kate felt at knowing Castle hadn't really been in love with Gina bothered her. After all, he had broken up with the woman weeks ago; the woman was no longer a threat.

Not that Gina had been a threat, Kate reminded herself sternly. At least not once Castle had returned in the fall. She was with Josh now, and whomever Castle dated no longer mattered.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Kate said, knowing already that Iya wasn't going to agree with her. "I'm with Josh now." That she was struggling with that particular issue was something Kate was going to keep to herself for as long as she could. The detective certainly didn't have any illusions that the aliens would stop watching her and Castle after they left. Mam-Biki and Iya would both probably be even more eager to watch them to see what changes their interference brought.

"Next you're going to tell me that Josh is your 'one and done,'" Iya said.

_My one and done?_

Kate's inner being recoiled at the thought. To spend her life married to a man that she saw when he could fit her in between his job and his trips overseas? A man who was more passionate about helping strangers on the other side of world than he would ever be about her?

Meanwhile, Castle would fade out of her life if she stayed with Josh. He would find another muse, probably another woman that would-

Kate couldn't stop from wincing at the thought of Castle with someone else. Some day she would have to see him on some interview with his hand holding that of some beautiful woman. She'd have to pretend that it didn't bother her as he smiled tenderly at the woman, going on and on about how extraordinary she was. What if he used the word "always" in relation to this mysterious stranger? Kate wouldn't be able to handle it. The tears she was suddenly trying to keep from welling in her eyes assured her of that.

Kate couldn't handle the thought of losing him. Of never hearing his crazy theories again, of never seeing his eyes light up when they cracked a case wide open. The thought of him never bringing her coffee again, of losing his support and friendship was too much to deal with.

Kate had to change the course of this conversation.

Immediately.

** Although I have a general blueprint for the rest of the interrogation, I would love to hear any suggestions. And as always, I want to know what you all think about this chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**When I said it could be a while between chapters, I had NO idea it would be over a month. That is just plan wrong. I am so sorry, guys. I HAVE to do better than that. Thankfully I have the next chapter all planned out and will be working on it this weekend.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the aliens and the off-beat plot of this fic. Everything else belongs to ABC and Andrew Marlowe.**

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><p>"I thought you brought me here to talk about Castle, not Josh."<p>

Beckett's response to her question about Josh being the detective's 'one and done'-Iya shuddered at the mere thought-took the alien by surprise. She would have thought the woman would have been relieved to talk about someone other than Castle. Dr. Motorcycle Boy certainly wasn't _Iya's _first choice of conversational topics. But Iya wanted to make sure Beckett wasn't thinking of her current boyfriend as having any _real_ permanent place in her life.

Iya's eyes narrowed in suspicion. From all the different transmissions she had seen of Beckett, the detective tended to want to change the subject most often when the subject in question was Castle. So why would Beckett now decide to change the subject _back _to Castle?

"We'll get back to Castle in a minute," Iya finally said. "But first, how would you describe your relationship with Josh?"

"He's my boyfriend," Beckett replied.

Iya couldn't resist rolling her eyes at that. The fact that it would look like a classic Beckett eye roll, due to her Beckett-clone appearance, made it difficult for her to suppress a smile, but she managed. "Duh. But how would you say things have been between the two of you lately?"

"Don't you already know the answer to that?" Beckett asked.

Iya shook her head. The woman may be great at interrogations, but Iya was starting to think her abilities at being on the other side of the table was seriously lacking. Or the detective was employing a tactic that Iya hadn't figured out yet. Iya figured that either scenario was equally likely.

"All I know is what I see on the transmitter," Iya said.

"So what did you see?" Beckett asked.

Iya started wondering if she was losing control of the interrogation. She should be the one asking the questions, not Beckett. But the detective didn't know what was coming; Iya did. So she would go with it.

For now.

"What I _saw_," Iya said, rising to her feet and leaning so that her face was mere inches away from Beckett's, an intimidation tactic that the alien had seen the detective use during many interrogations, "was that when you were in the freezer, you didn't bring up Josh, Castle did. What I _saw _was that even though you knew Josh was back in town, you were surprised to see him at the precinct. What I _saw _was that even when you tried to give your full attention to Josh, you still couldn't resist watching Castle walk away. And to me it sure looked like you would have much rather gone with Castle than stayed with Josh!"

* * *

><p>That certainly hadn't turned out the way Kate expected.<p>

Kate had no idea her actions in the last few days had given so much away. Although it wasn't like she knew there were aliens watching her every move. And she had been able to hide her feelings from Castle; that's all she'd really been aiming for.

So now she would just need to be careful to hide her emotional reactions regarding Castle from Iya, too. And Mam-Biki, wherever she was.

Where _was _Mam-Biki, anyway?

"Why isn't Mam-Biki here?" Kate asked. "I would think she would want to be in on this little interrogation of yours."

"She went to go get Castle," Iya said dismissively.

"Wouldn't you rather wait until she comes back with him, so you could interrogate us together?" Kate tried next.

The idea sounded good to Kate. Castle would never let her hear the end of it once he found out about Mam-Biki and Iya. But since she wasn't going to be able to prevent the writer from meeting the two aliens anyway, she might as well use Castle's presence to get her out of this mess. Chances were the man would be so excited about meeting real aliens that any concerns about the aliens' mission would be of secondary importance.

She hoped.

Iya dashed Kate's hopes of Castle's eminent arrival when she replied, "It is going to take a while for Mother to work everything out so that they can slip away unnoticed. It could take up to a day or two."

"And you're what, planning to have me go hungry and get dehydrated during that time?" Kate knew the accusation was unfounded, but she would use whatever she could to throw the alien off. She was sure Mam-Biki and Iya had made plans for food and water for her. If Iya could make herself look like Kate, it stood to reason that Mam-Biki could, too. It would be the easiest way for the queen to get to Castle. The only real mystery was how they planned to get the food to the ship without being noticed.

"I would never do that!" Iya cried. "From what I've been able to gather, your kind eats three times a day, same as we do. Or, at least most of your kind does. You seem to be much more sporadic about it. But one of the clones will be bringing your latte and bear claw within the next hour. Another will bring back a burger and shake from Remy's later."

"How will they bring stuff to the ship without being seen?" Kate asked.

"They won't need to bring it," Iya said. "We'll just use the duplicator. And, before you ask, we have an identifier that will enable us to get your usual order. Although that won't be needed for your morning meal. We already know your drink order; Castle was kind enough to mention it the first time he brought it to you."

"And you've never forgotten it," Kate said with a sigh.

"Of course not!" Iya's shock that Kate would even consider such an idea was obvious. "I've tried to recreate it on Amour, but since we don't exactly know what is in coffee, I haven't been able to manage it. But Mother will be able to tell me once Castle brings your morning coffee into the precinct."

Kate went pale at the thought. The precinct. An alien couldn't go around pretending to be a cop! Kate had no idea how much the queen had been able to glean about police work from watching her work cases with Castle, but there was no way it would be enough.

"Mother has it covered," Iya said, showing that she had, at least in this instance, known where Kate's thoughts had gone. "While a clone, an Amourian can do whatever the real creature can do."

"Anything?" Kate asked skeptically.

Iya nodded. "Mother will notice at a crime scene anything that you would. She'll be able to do any of your take-down maneuvers and be able to spin theories with Castle, if she needs to. She'll know everyone you know, even people that we've never seen in a transmission." Iya sat back down and picked up the folder she had brought in, opening it before turning her attention back to Kate. "Enough trying to distract me. I'll give you one last chance to make this easy on yourself. Are you willing to admit that Castle is your destined mate or, as you put it, your 'one and done?'"

So now they were back to the blunt version of interrogation. Kate almost smiled at the rookie mistake Iya had just made. The princess had left the question far too open-ended, making it easy for Kate to distract her once again.

"My 'one and done' and your 'destined mates' are not the same thing," Kate said.

Iya gave her a puzzled look. "What's the difference?" she asked.

"A 'one and done' can actually exist," Kate answered simply.

"I know you don't believe in destined mates," Iya said. "But you didn't believe in aliens, either. You were proven wrong about that. Now you just have to be proven wrong about destined mates."

Kate knew the princess had a point, although it was somewhat shaky. The proof that aliens existed was not proof that destined mates, or soul mates as Castle had once called them, did. Kate's lips curved in a slow smile when a thought came to her. There were other things that Castle mentioned when he'd asked her about her beliefs on soul mates. "Next you're going to be telling me that unicorns exist, too."

Iya's confused look made Kate want to laugh.

"What are unicorns?" Iya asked.

"I thought so," Kate said smugly.

"No, really," Iya pressed, "what are unicorns?"

"A unicorn is a white horse with a giant horn sticking out of its forehead," Kate told her.

"Oh," Iya said, the comprehension that dawned on the alien's face startling Kate. Why would she not recognize the word but not seem to be surprised by the description?

"We have those," Iya said, "but we call them majesties."

Kate closed her eyes for a brief moment, taking a calming breath. This was just too much. "You can't be serious."

"Here, I'll show you." Iya walked over to the large mirror and placed her white, heart-shaped hand against it. In the next moment, Kate saw a unicorn in what looked like a meadow, eating what looked like grass. Kate may have thought the whole thing was a fake, except that the "grass" was gold and instead of being blue, the sky looked like one giant rainbow.

"Is that-" Kate started, but shock kept her from completing the question aloud.

"Amour, yes," Iya confirmed. The alien removed her hand and the image disappeared. Once again the area looked like the regular interrogation room mirror.

Iya walked back to the table and sat down. She turned her attention to the open folder on the table in front of her. The princess took out an object that was no thicker than a glossy picture would be. In normal circumstances, Kate would assume that it _was _a picture. After all she had seen since meeting Iya, she wasn't so sure.

"You're still going with the story that you and Castle are nothing more than work partners and friends?" Iya asked.

Kate had wondered when the discussion would return to that. She didn't even hesitate. "Yes," she said.

"These are observers," Iya explained, indicating the object she was holding. "It's similar to your pictures, except that it shows five to twenty seconds of what it records, rather than a mere instant."

The princess placed the observer in front of Kate and asked, "If you are so sure you care for Castle as nothing more than a friend, then how would you explain this?"

Iya tapped her finger on the object and Kate looked down to see herself at the precinct. A glance was all it took for the detective to know what incident had been recorded. It was shortly after Castle had returned from his summer in the Hamptons. The distress clear in her 'picture' self's eyes made Kate wince. She'd had no idea that her emotions had been so transparent.

Then Kate heard her 'picture' self speak.

_"Castle, go home," Kate ordered. "Go back to your Hamptons, your ex-wife, your book parties. I have work to do." _

_Castle's tone was baffled and somewhat angry as he asked, "What did I do?"_ Castle's response barely registered with Kate as the emotional way she had spoken echoed in her head.

"It still amazes me how clueless Castle was," Iya said, shaking her head.

"Not clueless," Kate defended him. "Just trying to put the story together with the evidence that he had."  
>"And he was missing some pretty important pieces," Iya said. "Like that you broke up with Demming because of him, and that you had changed your mind about going to the Hamptons. But still! It's like he closed his eyes off to noticing anything after he told you that he was leaving for the summer."<p>

"Maybe he did," Kate said quietly.

Iya seemed to ponder that for a moment before taking out another observer and setting it front of Kate. Once again she tapped it with her finger and a scene emerged. Kate knew she should have expected this one. After all, they were using 'Beckett clones.' It only made sense that Iya would use an incident for the interrogation that involved Natalie Rhodes.

_"You can _not_ tell me that is normal!" Kate hissed, Natalie having just left the room dressed exactly like Kate, down to a wig that matched the color of the detective's own dark hair._

_"She's just committed to the role," Castle defended the actress, heading to the door. "You should be flattered," he chided before leaving the room to catch up with Natalie, closing the door behind him._

_"Yeah, sure," Kate said, not agreeing with him in the slightest. "Until she steals my boyfriend and kills me in my sleep!"_

"I've been wondering something," Iya said. "You just accused Natalie of trying to steal your boyfriend. But she never met Josh. So whom did you mean?"

"It was a movie reference," Kate defended herself. Kate was sure with all of observing the alien had done she had figured out what a movie was.

"Okay," Iya said the word slowly. After a moment she shook her head, muttering to herself, "It must be a strange movie." A look of determination gleamed in the alien's blue eyes as she said, "But that still doesn't answer the question-whom were you thinking of when you said 'boyfriend?'"

_Castle._

The man's name popped up in Kate's mind before she could stop it. Thankfully she didn't say it out loud.

Kate was baffled when Iya didn't press her on the issue. The princess merely placed the next picture in front of her, the same determined look in her eyes. After that, the pictures were put in front of Kate in rapid succession, Iya not saying a word.

Kate was sure she knew why. Each one was from a time when her feelings for Castle were evident merely by the look on her face.

In the first picture she was looking despondently at the writer's empty chair a short time after he told her it would be his last case before he left for the Hamptons. In the second one, Kate's worry that she would lose Castle to Kyra Banks was evident as she watched him speaking with the woman behind a closed door. Then came her strong reaction to Natalie taking Kate's coffee right out of Castle's hand. The last was Castle, reading a letter, saying, "I love you." That one had been from a case where she and Castle had found letters written between a suspect and the woman he loved.

The final picture was what finally got to Kate. At the time Castle had read that line, Kate had been startled hearing those words from his lips, even in the detached way he had read them. Hearing those words again so soon after seeing so many incidents where her feelings for Castle were so clear on her face left Kate shaken. She realized now that there were some similarities in the look in his eyes after he said those words and the look he'd had in his eyes right before he'd kissed her. Each had an intensity that she had rarely seen from him.

Kate was quick to remind herself that neither time had been prompted by true feelings on Castle's part. He had just been reading someone else's letter in the first situation and had been trying to keep their undercover ruse intact in the second.

But neither her heart nor her mind was able to completely accept that reasoning. Kate was able to be honest enough, at least with herself, to know why. The feelings that welled up in her from his saying "I love you," for any reason, were all too real. As real as the sensations that had flooded when he kissed her.

For the first time since she had arrived on the ship, Kate wasn't entirely certain if she would be leaving with her heart, and her dignity, intact.

**FINALLY, another chapter. Real life and another story idea were just too distracting during the last few weeks. Thank you all for your incredible patience. As always, please R&R**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, it wasn't a month between chapters this time, thank goodness! I can't believe I was actually able to get two chapters out this week, one for this story and the first chapter of "The Ultimate Castle Monday." I'll probably be alternating between the two stories until they're both done. Thankfully the other story is much quicker to write, so it shouldn't really add any time between chapters for this one.**

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Castle or anything to do with it. Otherwise, Castle would be able to read Kate's mind, Iya would be a main character on the show and Caskett would have gotten together at least by the end of season 3.**

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><p>Iya observed Beckett closely as the detective watched the moments revealed by the observers. The princess had thought long and hard about which images to show and in what order. Beckett's displays of emotions were rare, especially in regards to Castle. Still, Iya had been able to find quite a few. The alien just hoped she'd chosen the right ones.<p>

Iya had known from the beginning that getting the detective to admit how she felt wouldn't be easy. It hadn't taken long after her mother had explained her plan to come to Earth and talk to the humans for Iya to come to the conclusion that what anyone else said would have little impact on the stubborn woman. If it had been that simple, Lanie would have been able to get through to her long ago.

No, what Beckett needed was to be reminded about what she herself had said. As deep in denial as Iya suspected the woman might be, she knew Beckett would have to see for herself the emotions that were shown so clearly from her own green eyes.

Iya couldn't resist adding that last image. The alien had hardly been able to breathe when she'd heard Castle say "I love you" to the detective. A part of her had been irritated that the first time Beckett heard the declaration from Castle he'd only been reading words written _by_ someone else meant _for _someone else. But the words had echoed around in Iya's head for the rest of the day, and she often found herself giggling and wanting to skip through the palace rather than move at her usual sedate walk. And she wasn't even in love with the man! Iya was certain Beckett's internal reaction had been much stronger than her own. The woman was just much better at hiding her emotional reactions to things than Iya would ever dream of being.

That wasn't the only reason Iya had chosen that last image, however. It also made a perfect transition point for the next part of the plan...

* * *

><p>Iya's warning of, "You'll want to close your eyes again," made Kate sigh with relief. That had to mean that the interrogation was over. Kate was expecting the swirling colors that danced outside her vision and she calmly waited until everything went back to black before she opened her eyes again.<p>

Kate didn't bother to hide her smile as she saw that the illusion of Castle's loft had replaced that of the interrogation room. She had no intention of letting Iya become aware of it, but she was sure she was finally getting her bearings in this odd situation she found herself in.

Not that she thought the alien was done throwing surprises at her. But Kate had a feeling she now had a much better idea of what kind of surprises there might be. Iya had revealed much more than she realized in that interrogation. Any fears that Iya, Mam-Biki or any other alien from Amour would cause her harm were gone. As crazy as it sounded to Kate, the aliens truly seemed to be solely motivated by a desire to help. It wasn't the kind of help Kate wanted, of course. The detective would have preferred to have the aliens use their technology to catch killers. Instead, she was getting 'help' in admitting to herself her feelings for Castle.

As if she needed help with that! Kate already _knew _how she felt about Castle. The uncertainty was in what to do about it. She doubted the aliens would be much help in that area.

With her concerns about ulterior motives gone, Kate knew what was coming next: Iya had shown Kate the images that proved how the detective felt about her partner; now Iya would show Kate how Castle felt about her.

Kate's stomach tightened in nervousness at the thought. She knew Castle cared for her, that he was attracted to her. Whether his feelings went deeper than that she'd never fully been convinced of. After all, it hadn't been all that long ago that the man had broken up with Gina, whom he had dated for months.

Kate knew Iya and Mam-Biki were convinced that Castle's feelings for Kate were as strong as Kate's were for him. Iya especially would be heartbroken if the images didn't prove what she thought they would. Not as heartbroken as Kate, of course. But Kate would mask her feelings as she so often did and decide how to deal with everything after she was back in familiar territory.

On the other hand, if it was proven that Castle did feel as strongly as she did-

No, Kate wouldn't let her mind go there. She had already allowed herself the luxury of hoping once. Right before Castle had left to spend the summer with Gina, ex-wife number two. Creating the murder board to try to learn whatever she could in her in unending quest to find her mother's killer had been the only thing, other than her work, that kept her mind off of Castle while he was gone.

Kate wondered if Castle would appreciate the irony: reading his books had helped her get through those first dark years of her mother's murder; working on her mother's murder board had helped her get through Castle's long absence.

The feeling of a metal-like object being placed on her head jolted Kate out of her thoughts. A faint unease crept back in, replacing Kate's earlier calm. She had expected that Iya would be showing her pictures of Castle from the same type of observers that had been used during the interrogation. Now Kate had no idea what the alien princess was up to.

"Do I need to close my eyes again?" Kate asked, not letting any of her uncertainty show in her voice.

"No, I have that covered," Iya said.

Kate found out what Iya meant when a thin strip was placed over her eyes. As soon as the strange material touched her eyes, the edges suctioned themselves to each side of her head.

The next thing she knew, Kate was back at the precinct. At first she thought it was another illusion. The presence of various fellow officers quickly dispelled that idea.

Unless they were alien clones...

After all, if Iya could make herself appear like Kate, the alien could probably make herself look like anyone. And if Iya was able to do that, so could any other aliens the queen and princess may have brought with them.

Although she wouldn't put it past Iya to do such a thing, it didn't make sense somehow. If the only thing the alien was going to do was create another illusion, why would she have strapped the contraption around Kate's eyes? Whatever Iya was up to, Kate was sure that it was something more than a mere illusion. And somehow Castle would be the focus.

The thought had barely passed through Kate's mind when the detective noticed that she was holding something. It felt like a drink carrier. That was odd. She supposed it was possible that she had picked up something, but Castle was the one...

Kate froze when it hit her. Or, she would have, if she'd been able to. Instead, she kept walking. She tried not to panic when she realized that she couldn't stop. Next Kate tried to look down to see what exactly was in her hands, but neither her head moved nor her gaze.

Part of the theory that had half formed in her mind was confirmed when she walked past Esposito and the detective said, "Yo Castle, if you're looking for Beckett she's looking over security footage with Demming."

Kate couldn't keep herself from looking over at the man and nodding before continuing on.

Well, that solved part of the puzzle. Obviously Iya had done some weird virtual reality Freaky Friday switch type thing. Kate had watched a vast array of science fiction movies over the years, many which had dealt with virtual reality. Kate had seen both versions of Freaky Friday, where a mother and daughter had switched bodies. Kate had much preferred the older version. And although Freaky Friday was her favorite movie where two people switched bodies, she had seen many others. With the technology the aliens had, Kate wasn't all that surprised that Iya would be able to combine the two concepts.

That still didn't explain why she couldn't control her movements, though. She couldn't remember any movie, virtual reality ones or ones where two people swapped bodies where that happened.

_Demming_, Castle's voice suddenly growled in her head. _I really can not stand that guy._

If she could, Kate would have whipped around to see if the real Castle was anywhere near by, merely as a reflex.

The impulse had barely left when Kate realized that not only was she in a virtual version of Castle's body, but she was hearing his thoughts.

Considering the tension that suddenly flooded her, Kate guessed that she was feeling Castle's emotions, as well.

Kate mentally groaned at the realization, grateful she could at least still think her own thoughts, instead of merely hearing Castle's.

When Kate arrived at the room where her virtual self was sitting next to Demming, the words came out of Kate in Castle's voice, "Hey, I brought coffee."

The experience was disconcerting, to say the least.

"You know, its okay," virtual Kate said, "Demming already brought some."

Kate was taken aback as the feeling of being a third wheel coursed through her. She actually felt as her Castle features formed into his regularly easy-going air.

_Poker face, poker face, poker face_, Castle's voice repeated over and over in her head.

"Did he now," she said in Castle's voice.

Kate's Castle eyes looked around for somewhere to set the coffee down when her attention was caught by what was on the screen at the same time virtual Castle's was.

Kate _remembered_ this case. She probably would have figured it out faster if the situation she fond herself in wasn't so odd, but one glance at the security footage gave her the last piece of evidence she needed. She was experiencing one of Castle's memories from Castle's point of view.

Kate actually admired Iya for thinking of such a thing. Given what the alien's main purpose was, getting Kate and Castle together, it was a pretty smart move. It was possible that Mam-Biki had been the one to come up with the idea, but Kate doubted it. This had Iya written all over it.

Kate almost expected it when the scene around her suddenly changed.

Seeing herself standing next to a door at another part of the precinct, Kate had a pretty good idea which of Castle's memories she was now "experiencing."

The pain that slammed into her, Castle's pain, as with Castle's eyes she watched her virtual self share a tender moment with Demming made Kate feel like she was going to be sick. Each detail her Castle eyes took in created its own personal pain. The tender look in her virtual self's eyes felt like a kick to the stomach. The way that look enhanced her already breath-taking beauty squeezed her Castle heart like a vice. As her virtual self kissed Demming, Kate felt the lump in her throat, Castle's throat, and she realized that Castle was on the verge of tears.

Kate was grateful when Castle's feet led her away from the happy pair. The shock pulsing through every fiber of Castle's body was so strong that she could even feel it slipping into her own heart. If she hadn't been constrained by the actions of being in virtual Castle's body, she knew she would be shaking and fighting back tears herself.

Kate had known that Castle cared for her but she had never dreamed that he cared this much.

For the first time in months she let herself have a brief moment of hope. If this was real, then there was no doubt in her mind that Castle cared for her as much as she cared for him.

But what if it wasn't?

What if this was all nothing more than Iya's interpretation of how he felt?

Kate knew the alien's intentions were pure, but what if Iya had added her own ideas of what Castle was thinking and feeling into this whole virtual reality thing?

Kate just couldn't take the chance of believing only to be proven wrong once she was face to face with the real Rick Castle again.

Stubbornly Kate squelched the hope and tried to remain objective as Castle's voice in her head debated how to handle the situation. His thoughts ran the gamut from slipping out of the precinct unnoticed to confronting her with how he really felt.

Slipping out unnoticed was the idea he picked until he realized that he wouldn't make it away in time.

Kate felt the way virtual Castle braced himself and fixed his expression into a relaxed, unaffected look as he hurried into the break room. He immediately headed over to the espresso machine, filling a cup with the steaming brew.

"Castle, what are you still doing here?" virtual Kate asked in surprise.

"Hey, I was just about to leave myself," Castle's voice once again came out of Kate. The detective wasn't sure she would ever get used to the experience, regardless of how many memories Iya forced her to deal with. "Good job closing the case," virtual Castle added.

"Yeah, well, we make a good team," virtual Kate said.

_We as in you and I, or we as in you and Demming_? Castle's thought flittered through her Castle mind, Kate hearing it as clearly as if he'd spoken out loud.

Kate wasn't sure if she'd ever get used to that, either.

"Yeah, good night," virtual Castle said.

"Night," virtual Kate said and gave a little wave before she turned and walked away.

As soon as her virtual self was gone, Kate felt the relaxed expression leave and each of the pains that had hit before gained strength as a feeling of loss wrapped tightly around each one.

The pain hadn't completely dissipated before the scene around Kate changed. Terror joined the other emotions and it only took an instant for Kate to realize that this time virtual Castle was at a dead run.

_Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive_, Castle's thoughts yelled in her head

Kate felt her own horror as she realized which memory she was in the midst of now. She had been so relieved to see Castle when he'd arrived at her building, which Scott Dunn had just blown up. She had disguised that relief with an insistence at modesty that even she had realized was crazy. The detective was still amazed, even after all these months, that Castle hadn't looked at her when she'd been hankered down in her bathtub without a stick of clothing on.

The heat was overwhelming as virtual Castle burst into the burning apartment building. Experiencing it through Castle's eyes, Kate could hardly believe the way her Castle feet stormed up the stairs and her Castle body threw itself against the door. Kate could feel his determination to get to her or die trying.

Castle's relief was mingled with Kate's own when her Castle eyes saw her virtual self huddled in the bathtub. If she had been able to, Kate would have smiled as she felt Castle's desire to laugh when virtual Kate insisted on being covered before he saw her. All while her apartment was on fire all around her.

Experiencing it through Castle's eyes, Kate realized that the writer truly hadn't looked, not even sneaking the slightest peak, as he held out his jacket. Realizing now how ridiculous she had been, Kate was somewhat amazed at that fact.

Kate's smile would have turned into an outright laugh if it could have as she felt how quickly virtual Castle's mood lightened when virtual Kate teased him as he helped her out of the apartment.

They had barely made it out of her apartment when the scene around Kate changed again. Kate barely had enough time to be aware that she was hunkered down when blind rage exploded through her entire being. She didn't have enough time to process what was happening before her body, Castle's body, was flying through the air. Kate had just enough time to recognize the sniper that had been less than a second away from shooting her virtual self when her fist, Castle's fist, smashed into the guy's face three times in rapid succession. The rage still swirled around inside and Kate could feel how it was a struggle for Castle to stop with only three blows.

Hearing virtual Kate's, "You okay?" caused Kate to look up and Castle's words to come out of her mouth, "Never better."

Kate realized that if this memory was accurate, the man must have been in shock. Because he had actually _meant_ it!

This time Kate wasn't taken by surprise when the scene changed around her. She found herself back at the precinct, watching through Castle's eyes as her virtual self kissed Josh right where anyone could walk by.

Kate was expecting the pain this time as it slammed into her. What she hadn't been expecting was that it was almost twice as strong as it had been when the memory had involved her and Demming. It was actually crippling.

For once, Kate_ hoped_ that Iya had enhanced the memory. She just couldn't handle the thought of causing the man she loved this much pain.

_Enough! _Kate shouted in her mind, hoping that Iya could hear her.

Kate didn't even have time to blink before she found herself back in the Castle's loft illusion, Iya's worried blue eyes looking at her.

"I'll be fine," Kate assured the alien. She blinked a few times, trying to adjust her gaze to the brighter surroundings. "Just give me a minute."

"I know," Iya said. Kate was confused at the way the worry didn't leave the alien's eyes until Iya continued, "It's not that. It's Castle. He's in trouble."

* * *

><p><strong>Additional Disclaimer: I don't own either version of Freaky Friday-other than a VHS copy of the '90s version of the movie. I actually prefer the newer movie, but I just can't imagine Kate Beckett feeling the same way. She seems to prefer the originals. After all, she loves Forbidden Planet. After watching that movie, I'm still trying to figure out why...although the robot is funny. And it really has a cool twist at the end...<strong>

**I wrote this chapter particularly for those of you who asked me after "Castle Heard Everything" to write a story where Kate knew what Castle was thinking. I couldn't think of an idea to carry a whole story, but the idea for this chapter came to me before the idea for the interrogation chapters did. And I just couldn't see only at giving her the ability to know what he was thinking...**

**As always, please R&R.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I can't BELIEVE it's taken me another month. Writer's block is the true enemy of writers everywhere. Thankfully it has freed me from its icy grip. Finally.**

**Disclaimer: LOL If I owned this wonderful show, I would INSIST that Kate tell Castle how she feels by the 12th episode of this season, with a point-blank "I love you, Castle," AND "Castle, you make all the songs make sense." And that episode would air the first Monday of January. Oh, and if that does happen (I would pray if I thought it would help) I still don't own the show.**

* * *

><p>Rick Castle had always thought that meeting a real life alien would be one of the coolest things ever. Looking into the malicious red catlike eyes that had odd, rainbow-like pupils, he was thinking that he may need to revise that opinion. This alien, <em>whatever<em> it was, was unlike anything he had ever imagined when he had spun scenarios in his head of meeting an off-world being.

And the creature clearly loathed him.

Rick couldn't fathom why. All he had done was knock on Kate's apartment door. The detective hadn't been herself that morning, and the way that she had rushed off had him worried. He had fought his curiosity for as long as he could-a whole two hours-before giving up and heading over to her apartment, only to have this _thing_ open the door in response to his knock.

Suddenly the gravity of the situation hit him.

There was an alien. In Kate's apartment.

_Why_ was there an alien in Kate's apartment?

And more importantly, _where _was Kate?

"Where is Kate?" Rick demanded to know, any fear he had overshadowed by his concern for the detective.

"On the spaceship, obviously," the alien replied, a tinge of amusement in its voice. The malicious glint in the creature's red eyes was now tinted with a satisfied gleam.

Images from various movies he had seen flashed through Rick's mind. There were so many horrible things that could happen to a human on an alien spaceship.

Rage flooded the normally easy-going man. Fists clenched, Rick stepped closer to the alien. Not even an inch separated them when he growled, "If any of you hurt her, I'll-"

The alien threw back its head and roared with laughter. "You'll what? Quote Edgar Allen Poe to us until we all 'die' of boredom?"

The mention of the writer that had inspired Rick enough to prompt him to change his middle name to 'Edgar' when he'd changed his last name to 'Castle' only increased the man's alarm. Just how long had this alien been watching him?

"What will you do, Castle?" the alien taunted him. "Just how far would you go to try to save the woman you love?"

Rick didn't know how the creature knew about his feelings for Kate. It could be anything, from being able to read his mind to manipulating his emotions.

_No!_

Rick's heart and mind both immediately rejected the thought of any outside force having a hand in his feelings for his favorite detective. Although the feelings were often overwhelming, he knew that there was nothing artificial about them.

"Anything," Rick finally answered the alien's question. He knew that he may have just sealed his fate with the words, but if there was a chance for him to save Kate, he refused to hesitate. "Whatever it takes, I'll do it. Just. Let. Her. Go."

Laughter was the alien's only response.

"I mean it," Rick said. "She has done nothing to you. Nothing." The fact that Rick hadn't done anything either escaped the writer as he fought in whatever way he could. "Take me, instead. She'll fight you. I won't."

"No, you won't," the alien agreed. "You won't be able to."

Rick felt slightly nauseous at the words. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that the alien could back up those words with actions.

He suddenly wished he had listened to Kate when she had told him to wait for her. Or that he had gone against her orders right away and followed her. At least then, he would be able to be with her. Where ever she was...

* * *

><p><em>Approximately two hours earlier, at the precinct<em>

"Good morning, Detective," Castle's cheerful greeting made Mam-Biki forget for a moment everything but the fact that she was getting to see her favorite earthling in the flesh. Before she realized what she was doing, Mam-Biki looked up at Castle with a beaming smile. His shocked expression swiftly reminded her that she had not greeted the man the way the real detective would have.

Silently commanding herself to focus, to remember that she was in cloned Beckett form and needed to act accordingly, Mam-Biki responded with a typical Beckett greeting, "Hey, Castle."

Watching her with puzzled eyes, Castle handed her the coffee in his right hand before sitting down in his usual chair and taking a drink of the coffee he held in his left hand.

"Thanks," Mam-Biki said and took a sip, holding the cup with both hands the way she had watched the detective do countless times. The instant the bitter brew hit her tongue, Mam-Biki fought the urge to spit the drops of liquid out of her mouth. Keeping her expression composed, the alien forced herself to swallow.

_This_ was the famous coffee that the detective drank every day? The coffee that was obviously a symbol of the love that Castle had for Beckett?

Mam-Biki doubted that even Iya would be able to choke the stuff down.

The alien's gaze shot over to Castle. His relaxed smile assured her that her unexpected reaction to the beverage had gone unnoticed by the normally observant author.

"So what have we got today?" Castle asked. "A mad scientist shot because the CIA wanted his cloning formula? Or just your average Jack shot Jill because of her affair with Bill?"

"Cloning formula?" Mam-Biki asked with an arched eyebrow. She knew that would be the reaction Beckett would have to such a theory. But it also made the alien queen wonder. Why had Castle come up with an idea that involved cloning? Was it possible that he somehow knew that she wasn't whom she pretended to be?

"Alexis and I watched 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers' last night," Castle explained.

"Ah," was Mam-Biki's response to that. She wasn't sure what 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers' was, although she figured that it must be one of those odd movies he and the detective liked so much. One that somehow involved cloning. "Well, we don't have anything yet. So far, it's just paperwork."

"Too bad," Castle said. Mam-Biki had a feeling that he meant it. "Another case with aliens would be so cool."

"There weren't any real aliens involved in that case, Castle," Mam-Biki reminded him. Watching the case where Castle had thought aliens might be involved had been an interesting experience. It was the one series of transmissions that the queen had viewed more than once. She had wanted to find out everything she could about the humans' thoughts on aliens, just in case they did end up visiting Earth at some point. Now at the precinct, posing as Beckett, Mam-Biki was glad she had taken that particular precaution.

"I know," he said with a disappointed sigh. "I've always wanted to see a real alien."

"Well, you never know, Castle," Mam-Biki said, careful to infuse sarcasm into her voice. "The day is still young."

"Mock me all you want, Detective," Castle said. "But someday you will see that I'm right. Aliens do exist."

Mam-Biki had to bite her tongue to keep from responding to that. She almost wished that it wasn't too soon to clue Castle in on the fact that she hadn't really been mocking him at all. And that Beckett's ideas about the lack of extraterrestrial beings had already been proven to be wrong to the skeptical detective.

"Detective Beckett! Detective Beckett!"

Mam-Biki tensed. She knew that being in clone form would enable her to have whatever information the real Beckett had, but the alien had been hoping that she wouldn't have to deal with anything other than paperwork during the short time she would be at the precinct. Her mission was to get Castle to the ship without any other humans getting suspicious. She didn't want to have her attention distracted. If she had been sure that Castle would have stopped by to check on her, Mam-Biki would have even called in sick. Since she wasn't certain what Castle would do in that type of situation, she decided to go to the station and try to act as 'normal' as possible.

When she looked up and her gaze met those of the woman swiftly approaching her, Mam-Biki's eyes went wide. This was no mere woman. The being wasn't a human at all. The queen's catlike eyes were easily able to see through the human clone to the Amourian underneath. She immediately recognized her daughter-in-law, Alicara, the one she had sent to get Beckett's breakfast right before she left the ship to head to the precinct. The one she had also charged with keeping an eye on Castle until he arrived at the station. She hadn't expected any problems, but she wanted an Amourian to be protecting him at all times while they were on the planet. Considering all she had seen in the transmissions with Castle and Beckett, she knew that that was no such thing as being too careful where that pair was concerned.

Mam-Biki noticed the curiosity in Castle's eyes as the 'woman' approached their side.

"Castle, something tells me I'm going to need extra caffeine today," the alien said, holding out her coffee. "Would you mind going and asking for the barista to put a couple shots in this?"

Giving her another puzzled look, Castle said, "Yeah, of course."

Mam-Biki let out a sigh of relief once the elevator doors closed with Castle on his way to fulfill her request.

Alicara had stood silent through the exchange, waiting for the queen to address her.

"What is the situation?" Mam-Biki asked her fellow alien, her voice barely at a whisper.

"There's another one of us here," Alicara whispered hurriedly. "I didn't recognize him. He definitely didn't arrive with us."

"What information were you able to gather?" Mam-Biki asked next.

"He was at the coffee shop when Castle went in to get your coffee," Alicara said. "He was waiting for someone."

"Were you able to find out whom?" Mam-Biki had a sinking suspicion that she already knew.

Alicara confirmed it with her next words, "He was waiting for Castle. I could tell because he was watching Castle the whole time," she said. "Not with the clone eyes, they didn't look in his direction once," she said, referring to the way that Amourians could change positions without disrupting the position of the clone disguise, "but his Amourian eyes watched Castle's every move."

Mam-Biki didn't like the sound of that. There was no reason that any Amourian should be on Earth that wasn't directly tied to the royal mission. An Amourian didn't go off-planet without clearance from a member of the royal family. The queen knew none had been given. To have the unidentified Amourian be focused on Castle was especially troubling.

It didn't take long for Mam-Biki to come up with a plan.

As soon as Castle returned with the doctored up coffee, Mam-Biki got to her feet.

"Castle, I have an errand I need to run," she said, grabbing Beckett's purse and slinging it over her shoulder. "I won't be gone long. Just wait for me here, okay?"

"Sure," Castle readily agreed.

Mam-Biki was a little concerned about his quick response. She had fully expected him to want to know where she was going and ask to come along. The calm expression on his face assured her that, for whatever reason, he didn't think anything was unusual in her request.

Grateful for the minor miracle, Mam-Biki hurried to the elevators, Alicara on her heels. She had to find the unknown alien before that alien found Castle.

* * *

><p><em>Present time<em>

Thinking back on it, Rick was surprised that Kate had accepted so readily his acceptance of being left behind at the precinct when she'd been acting so strangely. It was yet another way that she had been extremely out of character that morning. If he hadn't known better, he would have even thought she didn't like the taste of her favorite coffee.

He suddenly remembered the woman that called out for Kate right before she had asked him to add espresso shots to her coffee. Had she been sent to lure Kate to the spaceship?

"What are you planning to do with us?" Rick finally asked once he was able to calm himself down enough to actually be able to speak again.

"What to do with Kate," the alien said thoughtfully, "has yet to be determined. "I've already decided what to do with you." The creature seemed to be waiting for Rick to respond, but Rick could do nothing more than wait for the alien's pronouncement of his fate. "For you, I'll stick with good, old-fashioned torture. Starting with-"

Rick had to agree. What happened next was definitely a type of torture. For the being's appearance changed to that of a human. One that Rick immediately recognized.

Dr. Motorcycle Boy.

"So you're going to torture me while cloned as Dr. Motorcycle Boy?" Rick asked.

"Oh, no," the alien said. "This is far worse, for you, than that. I _am_, as you so eloquently put it, Dr. Motorcycle Boy. I have been for almost two years. I only saw the man once, while he lay dying in a remote jungle in South America. How I got my ship so off course I still don't know. But that worked out perfectly for me. Because there was a group of doctors working with the natives, one of whom happened to be from New York City. One that happened to die under mysterious circumstances."

"You killed someone to take over his identity?" Rick asked, horrified.

"I didn't need to," the alien said. "The human had already caught some disease by the time I arrived. I could have healed him, of course. But that would have defeated my purpose."

"Your purpose?" Rick echoed, not sure he wanted to know.

"To sweep the delectable Detective Kate Beckett off of her feet," the alien's smile was smug. "It was so pathetically easy to do. She was wallowing in so much misery over you leaving with your ex-wife that she fell right into my trap. And then you made it even easier, by staying with that ex-wife of yours. That's when she agreed to our first date, you know; when she found out you were still in a relationship with the woman you had left her for."

"I didn't leave Kate for Gina," Rick protested. "She was dating Demming when I left."

Again the alien laughed. "That's right, she hasn't told you yet."

"Told me what?" Rick asked.

"She left Demming before you left her," the alien said. "She even left him _for_ you. How was it she put it?" The creature went on in a high-pitched voice: "'You're a great guy, and I really like you. But this just isn't what I'm looking for right now.'"

Rick wasn't sure if the alien was telling the truth about when Kate had broken up with Demming. But there was one thing he was certain of:

Dr. Motorcycle Boy was an alien.

* * *

><p><strong>Surprise! So were any of you expecting that particular twist? I've been anxiously waiting to get this chapter posted. You'd probably never suspect it, what with how long it took me. But while the basic idea of the chapter has been in my mind for a couple months now, the specifics just came to me tonight.<strong>

**As always, I can't WAIT to find out what you all think.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Well, here you go, another chapter. And you didn't have to wait a whole month this time!**

**Disclaimer: LOL Really? I DID get to have a dream of them recently, though...and even then, I didn't own the show.**

_ If I were writing this-_

For a moment, Rick was stumped. The situation in which he now found himself was unlike anything he had ever written. As much as he had always loved science fiction and fantasy stories, he kept his own novels relatively plausible.

He wouldn't be able to use basic criminal pathology for this one. He'd have to think like a science fiction or fantasy writer.

Star Wars was the first story to come to Rick's mind. Would Josh, or whatever his real name was, be trying to draw humans to the dark side of the Force?

If that was the case, though, it would make more sense to take Rick rather than Kate. After all, a person had to believe in the Force to harness its power.

So that was out.

Star Trek was the next one Rick thought of, but he didn't even waste a second trying to make that idea fit. The Federation went on missions for causes of peace, which obviously was not _this _alien's intention.

The plot for 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' might work, but Dr. Motorcycle Boy didn't look anything like a pod person.

But what if the aliens that now had Kate captured on their ship _was _part of a dying race?

Why would they take Kate and not-?

Breeders.

What if Kate wasn't the only woman they had taken? And what if they were _only_ taking women?

It made sense, in a twisted, horrifying and completely disgusting way.

What if they had taken Kate, and women like her, to create a hybrid race to keep their own alien race alive?

Even now Kate might have an alien spawn growing inside her. She had certainly been dating Dr. Motorcycle Boy long enough for that to be a possibility.

For the first time in his life, Rick hoped that his overactive imagination was wrong.

"So glad you could join us, Kate," the alien suddenly said.

Kate?

She was here?

But how did she escape the spaceship?

Rick hesitated to turn and look. It could be some kind of trap. Relief flooded him when he heard Kate speak.

"Castle, you doing okay?" Kate asked.

All Rick could do was nod. He was glad that he was at Kate's side again, but that only solved part of the problem. And he didn't know for sure what the rest of the problem was going to be.

The alien had mentioned torture before showing his human form. Now that Kate was there, would he hurt her, too?

"Are _you_ okay?" Rick finally remembered to ask.

"I'm fine," Kate assured him. "But we need to get you out of here."

"That is not something that will be happening just yet," the alien said. "You may leave, if you wish, but I have plans for the writer."

"I am not leaving here without Castle," Kate said, stepping in front of him protectively.

"If you wish to stay and watch, you certainly may," the alien said. "Although you will soon come to regret that decision."

"You have one minute to let us go," Kate said.

"And then what?" the alien scoffed. "Did you call Ryan and Esposito for back-up? They will be unable to help you. To demonstrate..."

The alien flicked his hand and a contraption that looked like a large hand-cuff snapped around Rick's neck. With another flick of his hand, the alien sent Rick flying across the room where he landed against the far wall, the hand-cuff acting like a magnet pinning him against the wall, his feet dangling several inches above the floor.

A loud hiss suddenly rent through the room and Rick saw a blur head towards the alien. In the next moment the alien was on the ground. Rick was stunned to notice that Kate was standing over the alien, her green eyes flashing with rage.

How did she move so fast?

The woman standing by the alien flicked her hand and Rick felt the hand-cuff unsnap from his neck. She flicked a finger and Rick was gently lowered so that his feet were once again touching the floor.

Almost as a reflex, Rick looked over to the door where Kate used to be-

No, where Kate _was_.

Rick looked over to where the alien was still on the floor, Kate still standing only a couple inches away.

He looked back towards the door.

Kate was still there.

He looked back to the alien.

Yep, she was still there, too.

"Iya, that really wasn't necessary," Rick heard Kate's voice say from the direction of the kitchen. His eyes went wide as, once again, he saw Kate. This time she was coming out from the kitchen, looking at the Kate standing by the alien with an exasperated expression on her face that Rick recognized all too well.

"But Mother, he was hurting Castle!" the Kate standing by the alien cried.

"Iya, you know perfectly well Castle was not hurt by the cuff magnet simulator," the other Kate said.

"But you know Gwappo was just getting started! Who knows how far he would have taken it!" protested the Kate referred to as Iya.

"You know we never would have let it get that far," the Kate near the kitchen said.

Rick looked over by the door in time to see_ that _Kate rolling her eyes.

"Is Castle all right?" This time, Kate's voice came from over by her bedroom. Rick wasn't entirely surprised when a fourth Kate appeared.

"He's fine," the Kate standing by the alien muttered, folding her arms, her lips twisted in a pout.

If it wasn't for the fact that Rick had _never _seen Kate pout before, he might have thought it was cute.

"If I didn't know better, I would say _you _were in love with Castle," said a fifth Kate that came from the kitchen to stand next to the Kate that was already there.

The Kate standing over the alien gasped. "That is _not _funny, Emilan!" she snapped, the disgust clear in her eyes. "He is Beckett's destined mate. I would _never_ try to break up a destined pair!"

That's when Rick decided his addled brain couldn't take anymore. Obviously, only one of the women in the room was the real Kate. Or was the real Kate even here? If he had to guess, he would say the real Kate was the one by the door. She was the only one that had acted like the real Kate Beckett would have.

"What is this, the attack of the Beckett clone army?" he asked. He never thought he would say that outside of the context of a joke. But the question was completely serious.

"Attack no, Beckett clones, yes," said the Kate that was referred to as Emilan.

Rick tried to wrap his mind around what had just happened. He had met an alien, almost been tortured by that alien, only to be rescued by Beckett clones.

_If he were writing this-_

"Don't even bother," the Kate by the door said. "No matter what kind of crazy theory you come up with, I guarantee the truth will be even crazier."

"I never thought you'd say that," Rick said with his signature smirk.

"Me, either," Kate said. "But trust me on this one. Not even _you_ could come up with something like this."

"I don't know," the Kate that had come from the bedroom said. "Iya's our Castle expert. What do you think, Iya?"

_Castle expert?_ Rick mouthed.

The Kate by the door answered with a brief nod and another roll of her eyes.

"Beckett might be right," Iya said. "She knows him better than I do. Although the way he interacts with Beckett is a lot like any male of a destined pair would act, I don't think he thinks like we do."

Rick knew he had a quick mind. He knew he was adept at taking in a whole lot of details in a short amount of time. But he knew that he had now reached his limit. There was too much information without enough context for him to place the events into a logical sequence.

Rick wasn't surprised when the one he was sure was the real Kate looked intently into his eyes for a long moment before turning back to the others and saying, "No, he doesn't," she said. "Right now he's trying to make sense of everything and not having much luck. I think it would be easier for all of us if you all shut the clones off."

"She's right," said one of the aliens by the kitchen. "And we haven't even introduced ourselves, which is intolerably rude."

"Close your eyes, Castle," said the one he was sure was the real Kate.

Usually his curious mind would want to know why, but Rick decided that now was not the time to ask. A rainbow of color swirled for a moment, only to be replaced by a bright flash.

"It's safe to open your eyes now," a surprisingly lyrical voice said.

Rick slowly opened his eyes, startled to see that he was now in his loft.

No, wait, not his loft. Because there was no spiral staircase.

So where _were_ they?

"You can sit down, Castle," Kate said and Rick looked over to see Kate sitting on the couch. "It's an illusion, but apparently they can create 'solid' illusions."

Rick thought about that for a moment and decided that it made sense. He figured that they were on the aliens' spaceship, and for some reason the aliens had created an illusion of his loft. If Hollywood could create special effects and illusions, a far advanced alien race could certainly create solid illusions. And these aliens were definitely advanced. To reach Earth the technology they possessed would have to far surpass anything humanity had come up with. Otherwise, the aliens would have been discovered by humans first, rather than the other way around.

When he looked up after sitting down next to Kate, Rick let out a surprised squeak. It sounded like the scream he had let out when a dead body had fallen at his feet into Kate's apartment all those months ago. Little wonder, since he felt a very similar type of shock.

For standing before him were four aliens that looked way too much like the true form of Dr. Motorcycle Boy. Or, to be more accurate, Dr. Motorcycle Alien.

"They come in peace, Castle," Kate said.

Rick let out a sigh of relief. He knew that she wouldn't lie to him about something like that. And her relaxed posture showed that there was no threat to them at the moment.

"Well, except for Gwappo," she amended.

"Is anyone going to fill me in on what's going on?" Rick asked, looking from Kate to the aliens and back again.

"Beckett is right," one of the aliens said. "We do come in peace. Gwappo will be dealt with and I assure you he will cause you both no further trouble. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Mam-Biki, queen of Amour, a planet five solar systems away from your own. This," she gestured to the alien at her right, "is my daughter, Princess Iya. This," she gestured the alien on her left, "is my daughter-in law, Alicara. And this," she smiled indulgently at the alien that stood at about half the height as the others, "is my granddaughter, Emilan."

"You and Beckett are destined mates," Iya said. Rick thought the alien looked like she trying not to jump up and down in excitement. "But neither one of you will admit that you love each other. Not even after the freezer, or the _bomb_!"

"Iya!" Mam-Biki said sharply while Emilan giggled.

"Well, how many life or death situations do they need, Mother?" Iya said.

Mam-Biki let out a long-suffering sigh. "I agree, kiddo. But we've given Beckett evidence of their feelings for each other. It's only fair that we give Castle the same. But I think we'll need to do this a bit differently for him."

"How?" Kate, Rick and Iya all asked in unison.

"The Amourian way," Mam-Biki said. "Castle, how would you like to visit a real alien planet?"

**Warning: It's going to be a bit before the next chapter is up. One, because I have a Christmas short story I'm going to be writing for the Secret Santa thing, and also because I'll need the time to do some research. Yay, a Castle marathon! And I want to make sure I have the planet of Amour just right. :)**

**So, was anyone expecting the clones to come to Castle's rescue? **


	9. Chapter 9

**Finally, the next chapter! I can't believe how long this story is taking to write. Because of it, I think from now on I will wait until I have a story completed before posting. Then if I have any of the same interruptions-other story ideas, Christmas, being sick for over two weeks, weather that knocks out power for days-I will be the only one bothered by it.**

**Disclaimer: I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight...Oh wait, I'm not a Disney character and the stars are hidden behind the clouds right now. Oh well. At least there's a new episode of Castle tomorrow. And only ONE week between new episodes this time. Much better than 5 weeks (or over 4 months) don't you think?**

* * *

><p>"The universe <em>does <em>want us together!"

Kate had seen that comment coming a mile away. She had known as soon as Castle had received enough information that was what his mind would immediately latch on to. For a brief moment Castle looked like Kate imagined he must have on Christmas morning as a little boy. Come to think of it, he probably _still _looked like that on Christmas morning.

""I don't know about the whole universe," Queen Mam-Biki corrected the exuberant writer, "but certainly all of the citizens of Amour want that particular outcome from our visit to your planet."

"Amour?" The amusement in Castle's eyes made Kate fight to hide a smile. As much as she wished this whole thing could just be over and done with, a part of her was looking forward to Castle's reaction. She frequently hid the fact from Castle, but the truth was the majority of the time the man's antics were an endless source of entertainment for her. Except for when they got in the way of her doing her job. Which seemed to be happening less and less lately; instead, the man seemed to be an ever increasing amount of help to her and her crime solving team. More than that, he was becoming a very important part of that crime solving team.

"That is what our planet is called," the queen said.

"A planet called Amour," Castle said, his tone thoughtful. Kate could practically see the thoughts dashing across the man's expressive face. "A whole planet of romantics...Have you been here before? Did you give Shakespeare ideas for his plays? Hopefully you didn't have any part in 'The Taming of the Shrew.' Beckett won't listen to a word you say if your society is set up like _that_ one." He was silent for a moment, lost in thought. "Come to think of it, neither would I. No woman deserves to be treated like that."

"Do you know what they're talking about?" Alicara whispered to Iya, who merely shook her head.

"Obviously it's someone who writes plays," Emilan said.

"But what a title for a story," Alicara said. "What is a shrew? And why would it have to be tamed?"

"I guess the answer to your question would be 'no,' Kate said to Castle. She then gave a brief description of the well-known play to the aliens. Each alien was horrified as the detective described the basic plot.

"Who would treat a destined mate so terribly?" Alicara wondered aloud after learning about the early clashes of the two main characters.

"No one would even be _allowed _to marry someone they didn't want to be with," Mam-Biki said.

"How could you _possibly_ think we would have anything to do with something so terrible?" Iya demanded to know. "Even if it is just a story! No one on Amour would ever read it!"

"I would question whether the two in that play were destined mates at all," Mam-Biki said.

The shock on Castle's face made Kate want to laugh. She was sure the man had never gotten such a negative reaction to one of his theories before. Not even from her!

"They take the destined mates relationship very seriously," Kate told Castle.

Kate grew nervous when Castle's lips formed a self-satisfied smirk that she recognized all too well. The first time she had seen it had been right after Kate had found out that Castle was going to be shadowing her. In response to her inquiry of how long the arrangement would last, Captain Montgomery had simply said, "That's up to him." Kate had then looked over at Castle to see that very smirk on his face.

"So what 'evidence' did they give you, Beckett?" he asked.

There was no way Kate was going to tell him anything. Not about the transmission of their undercover kisses. Not about the interrogation. And most of all, not about her time experiencing Castle's memories.

"That will have to wait until we give you your own evidence, Castle," Mam-Biki said, sparing Kate the need to answer Castle's question.

A flash of disappointment crossed Castle's face before he turned to Iya. "So, you're the Castle expert. What exactly is it that you know?"

"You really want to know?" Iya asked, her eyes shinning.

"You may want to think before you answer that, Castle," Kate warned. "Iya knows a lot. I don't know if I'd call her an expert, but definitely an obsessed fan. But of you, not your books."

Iya gasped. "I could read all of your books!" she suddenly realized. "Mother, can you imagine what else we might be able to learn by actually _reading _the Nikki Heat books?"

"That will have to be when we bring them back, Iya," Mam-Biki said. "We really should be on our way."

"I've never had a fan of just me, not my books," Castle said. "Mother will never believe it!"

Kate could only shake her head. Naturally Castle would see an obsessed fan as a positive thing!

"I'm afraid you will not be able to let anyone else know of our existence," Mam-Biki said, true regret in her voice.

Kate scowled at the way Castle's disappointed look bothered her. It wasn't like _she _hadn't disappointed him often enough. But Castle was a writer, a born communicator. She could imagine how difficult keeping this type of secret would be for him.

"Think of it this way," Kate said. "At least you're one of the first two humans to actually encounter alien life. And I'll never be able to deny the existence of extraterrestrials ever again. At least, not to you."

* * *

><p>Kate was jealous.<p>

Of an alien.

They were minutes away from landing on the aliens' home planet. From that first conversation on the ship five days ago when Castle had decided that he wanted to know not only everything Iya knew about him but the princess's home planet as well, Kate had barely seen either one of them, other than at meal times. Kate hadn't eaten so regularly since before her mother died. She was grateful that the food they were given were replicas of what she and Castle would normally eat.

Kate knew they weren't intentionally leaving her out. The mere thought of it would horrify either one of them. But the detective couldn't bring herself to listen to Iya constantly extolling Castle's many positive qualities. She was having a difficult enough time fighting her feelings for the man as it was without that.

Kate had spent a good portion of that first day alone. After breakfast on the second day, Alicara took the detective aside and asked her if she wanted her to speak to Iya about how she was monopolizing Castle's time.

"The queen will be busy, but I am fascinated by your world," Alicara said after Kate had assured her that she didn't want Castle or Iya to know how Kate really felt about their excessive time together. "And anything you want to know about Amour I would be more than happy to share with you. I promise, I won't mention Castle or destined mates even once, if you wish it."

Kate smiled at the sympathetic look in the alien's eyes. The truth was, she was as curious as Castle about the world to which they were headed. "Thank you," she said simply. "I would really enjoy that, if you wouldn't mind."

"Not at all," Alicara said. "What would you like to know?"

* * *

><p>He missed her.<p>

For most of the five days they had been on the alien space craft, Rick had hardly seen anything of his favorite detective. That first day he had been so wrapped up in making the most of the opportunity of finding out as much as he could from an actual alien-not to mention getting his ego constantly stroked by a fan that practically thought he could do no wrong-that he hadn't thought about much else.

Until Beckett didn't join them after breakfast to talk about Amour. It had surprised him, and even hurt a little. Was she so desperate to get some space from him that she would pass up the chance of talking to an actual alien?

When he saw her later that same day talking to the queen's daughter-in-law, Rick decided to just leave her alone for the time being. If she wanted to spend time with him, she certainly knew his door, at the moment metaphorically speaking, was always open.

* * *

><p>"So what will happen to Gwappo?" Rick asked Iya as the space ship entered the atmosphere of Amour. At this point, he couldn't see much, other than the rainbow-like sky and a hint of gold and blue. He figured that the blue was probably water.<p>

"Mother gave him a choice," Iya said. "He would either remain on Earth working with 'Doctors Without Borders' and stay completely out of the United States from now on-"

"Or?" Rick prompted.

"Or he could return to Amour, living out the rest of his days as a doctor to the Amourians on the outskirts of the planet."

"And?"

"He chose to remain on Earth," Iya said, her expression turning sad. "I don't blame him. He has suffered greatly on Amour."

"You feel sorry for him?" Rick was shocked. The anger that had been in the alien princess's eyes when she had seen what Gwappo had done to him made the writer think that she would have wanted the alien to suffer the worst possible punishment.

"Castle, you need to understand," Iya said. "Gwappo has gone through the absolute worst thing an Amourian can experience."

"He lost his destined mate?" Rick guessed.

Iya nodded. "In the worst possible way. They were two of our best scientists, assistant to Yillis, head of technology and exploration. Mother sent them on a mission. Gwinta, his mate, didn't make it back alive. It was a senseless accident. One of the essential parts of their craft malfunctioned. There was a terrible crash. When Mother heard of it, she and Father personally lead the search party. Gwinta's body was found; Gwappo's was not. Everyone naturally assumed that he had died with her. Most destined mates die together, so it wasn't really questioned."

Rick didn't have any trouble putting the rest of the story together. "He went after me because he couldn't go after the king and queen directly," he guessed. "But knowing how important my relationship with Beckett was to both you and your mother, he tried to do whatever he could to keep us apart."

"Exactly," Iya said. "And just so you know, as worried as I was when I first saw you dangling from the cuff simulator, Gwappo would have never tortured you. Not by your definition of the term. An Amourian wouldn't be capable of that; we're too committed to peace and helping our fellow beings."

"Instead, he was going to do what would be considered torture to one of you," Rick realized. "Which was why he was gloating about Kate choosing him over me, right? To make it worse, he even made up a story about Kate waiting until I got back, as if that made any difference to her."

"Anything that Gwappo told you was probably the truth," Iya said. The pained look on Rick's face made the alien wince. "I'm sorry, but that is what is most likely. Considering what you and Beckett have been through, the truth would cause either of you enough pain. Adding lies would be unnecessary."

"You're telling me that she waited to go on a date with Dr. Motorcycle Alien until I got back, because she found out I was still with Gina?" Rick couldn't fathom such a scenario. Why would his leaving bother her so much when she was still with-

But if that was true, then it also meant she hadn't been with Demming for most of the summer.

And that meant-

"I think you should sit down, Castle," Iya said suddenly, a heart-shaped hand on Rick's arm.

"I'll be all right, just give me a minute," Rick said. It wasn't exactly the truth, but he didn't feel like having the alien fuss over him at the moment.

"It's not just that," Iya said, proving to Rick that the alien hadn't missed how shaken he suddenly was, "I just heard the landing gear shift into place. None of us want to take any chances. We need both you and Beckett safely buckled into secured seats. It is time for your evidence."

Rick shook his head. "I don't need any evidence," he said quietly. "I already know how I feel about Beckett."

"Are you ready to tell her?" Iya asked.

"It doesn't matter," Rick said. "She isn't ready to hear it."

"You're probably right," Iya said. "Then maybe she needs your evidence, as well."

* * *

><p><strong>So the next chapter will be set on Amour. Are you as excited as I am? :) I was stumped about how to start the next chapter, but then my co-editor gave me the best idea...<strong>

**As always, please R&R.**


	10. Chapter 10

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**This WAS going to be the last chapter. But it got so long and it's so late here now that I've decided I have to break it up into two chapters. But you'll get plenty of Caskett's first day at Amour and there will be Castle's first piece of 'evidence' in this chapter. I'll do what I can to have the last chapter up next weekend. Hopefully this will tide you over until then. And just think, tomorrow the noir episode will be on. Less than 24 hours away now-YAY!**

**Disclaimer: I really don't think Andrew Marlowe would think up something like this. Which doesn't bother me a bit. It means I get to have fun with the idea myself.**

* * *

><p>Kate was confused. The space ship had landed and the door had been opened. Kate and Castle had been told it was safe to get out of their seats and move towards the front of the ship. Everything had seemed normal as the queen and princess led the humans to the doorway of the ship. Then, nothing. All of the aliens merely stood like soldiers at attention, none of them saying a word.<p>

Kate looked over at Castle to see if Iya had said anything to him about whatever was going on. The baffled expression on the man's face told her he wouldn't be able to give her any answers.

As if Kate's glance at Castle had been some sort of signal, Mam-Biki and Iya looked over at Castle, the action immediately repeated by all of the other aliens on board. All of the aliens had a glint of expectancy in their gazes.

Kate wondered what exactly it was they were expecting.

Unbidden the memory of the first image she had been shown aboard the ship flashed through Kate's mind. The kiss.

They couldn't possibly be expecting Castle to kiss her?

Not here.

Not now.

Certainly not before Castle had been given his own evidence?

The detective had never been so glad that Castle hadn't been with her when she'd first been taken on the ship. If he had seen that image, Kate was almost positive his mind would have leapt to the same place hers had.

"I apologize for the lack of 'pomp and circumstance,' Queen Mam-Biki finally ended up saying.

The delighted smile that curved Castle's lips told Kate that he knew what the alien was referring to, but she was still clueless.

"Was that long enough to 'ponder and savor?'" Iya asked next.

Ponder and savor.

Why did that sound vaguely familiar?

"We would have created some 'pomp and circumstance,' but we weren't entirely certain what that would require," Mam-Biki said.

Suddenly it clicked.

She and Castle had been in the midst of trying to solve a case where the victim had seemed to have been murdered in an airless, anti-gravity environment. Naturally, Castle had immediately spun a theory that aliens were the culprit. The writer had wanted to make a big deal out of what might be on a disc that they had found. Kate, wanting to merely catch the killer and put the whole crazy case behind her, had more or less ignored him.

Kate wasn't at all surprised that Iya would remember seeing that particular moment on the alien transmitter.

"Plenty of time, thank you," Castle assured the aliens.

"Then shall we depart?" Mam-Biki said. "If we start our journey now, we should make it back to the palace in time for breakfast."

"I'm ready if you are," Castle said to Kate, who merely nodded.

Kate had been warned by Alicara about the heat, but the hot and humid air that hit her as soon as she stepped off the ship still took her somewhat by surprise. She was glad that she and Castle had been given Amourian outfits to wear while on the alien planet.

The dress that Kate had been given gently hugged her curves, the bodice a modest V-neck, the edge of the dress brushing against her knees in the faint breeze. The material, green to match her eyes, felt like silk, except that it felt as cool against the skin as cotton. A thin white belt gathered the fabric around her waist and matching sandals protected her feet.

Castle's outfit, which appeared to be made out of the same material as Kate's dress, consisted of blue pants that ended at the knee, a white shirt and a blue vest. If it wasn't for the white sandals on his feet, all the man would need to look like a pirate would be a bandana and eye-patch.

Kate's first look at her surroundings was enough to distract her from their unusual clothing. Kate had seen a glimpse of the planet when Iya had shown her the unicorn-or, to use the Amourian term, majestic-but not even that, together with the description Alicara had given her over the last few days, had been enough to prepare her for what she saw.

The sky overhead was a giant rainbow, with a few scattered white clouds. The sun, which she couldn't look at directly any more than she could back on Earth, was clear as glass. The ship had landed in a meadow of gold-colored grass, but approximately a dozen yards away there was the edge of what looked to be a forest. The trees looked similar to apple trees back on Earth, except the leaves were a stark white and the fruit that hung from the brown branches were shaped like stars and were the same gold color as the grass beneath their feet.

The sound of hooves broke through the silence a few seconds before a herd of majestics came into view.

Although Kate had been forewarned by Alicara, the sight still took her by surprise. Because although the males looked the same as they had been depicted in the many fantasy movies she had seen growing up, the females did not. Instead of being all white like their male counterparts, the females came in a variety of colors. Each of the colors of the rainbow, in fact.

Two majestics led the herd, a male and a female. The female was purple, her body a pale purple and her flowing mane and tail a bright violet. The horn, however, was as white the males.

"This is the leading pair," Mam-Biki explained when the male stopped a few inches away from Castle and the female stopped a few inches away from Kate. "They do not think in terms of names the way we do; instead, they have specific calls for each other. However, we can not make those calls and it would be considered rude for us to do so, in any case. For this reason, they have chosen names so that we may address them properly. You may address the female leader as Shimmer," that majestic dipped its head, its horn lightly touching Kate's hand in greeting," and the male leader you may address as Shazzle." The male dipped his own head and his horn touched Castle's hand in greeting as the queen continued. "Shimmer and Shazzle have volunteered to transport you to the palace. I don't want there to be any misunderstandings and my knowledge of how humans treat horses on Earth is limited, so it is important for you to be aware that majestics are free creatures. Any majestic that has a passenger on its back does so voluntarily. There are many that choose to not volunteer for the task, and we respect their wishes."

"I've never ridden a horse without a saddle and bridle," Kate thought aloud.

"I'm not sure what you are referring to," Mam-Biki said. "I assume they are items you use to control the horses on your planet. You will not need those here. You may address a majestic as you would one of us, or as you would address a fellow detective or your Captain Montgomery. Although they do not have the ability to speak our language, they completely understand it, as we have learned to understand theirs."

"Understood," Castle said. Then he smiled slyly at Kate. "If you aren't comfortable riding alone, I would be happy to have you ride with me. I promise I wouldn't let you fall." After a moment's thought, he looked into the silver eyes of Shazzle and amended, "As long as that would be acceptable to you, of course."

The majestic dipped his head again. Kate and Castle both turned to the queen for the translation.

"He is agreeable to that suggestion," Mam-Biki said.

There was no way that Kate was going to let Castle know what a temptation his offer was. To lean back against him, his arms around her, as they rode a majestic through the forest...

Thankfully, Castle's next words interrupted her revere.

"You're a quick learner," Castle said. "I could give you some pointers and you'd be riding like a pro in no time."

"My high school gave equestrian classes, Castle," Kate replied. "But we were clothed at the time. So yes, I'm sure there are still things you could teach me."

Iya burst into laughter at that. Kate knew the alien would remember how Kate had mentioned during Castle's first interrogation the way the man had stolen a police horse without a stitch of clothing on. More importantly, Castle would remember.

Iya's laughter grew in intensity as Castle's eyes widened and he stared at Kate in a daze.

A satisfied smirk graced her lips as she turned to Iya. "So, how do you get on a majestic's back without stirrups and a saddle horn, anyway?"

* * *

><p>The ride to the palace was made mostly in silence, giving Rick plenty of time to think. So much had changed in such a short period of time that putting the pieces together to make a coherent story was taking longer than it usually would. During the time they had been on board the space ship, he had focused on the aliens' side of things. He'd asked numerous questions to understand their culture and the way an Amourian's mind worked. Particularly Iya's mind, since her fascination with his partnership with Beckett seemed to be the catalyst for the aliens' actions on Earth.<p>

Now he was putting his mind to work on figuring out Beckett's side of things. Not for the first time, he wished he'd been able to see whatever evidence the queen and princess had shown her. The days he had spent with Iya gave him a great deal of insight into the way her mind worked; she wasn't anywhere near as complicated as Beckett. For the alien, it was all about the destined mate relationship.

But that was way too broad of a spectrum for him to work with. There were too many small incidents that could be considered important for the development of his and Beckett's relationship. The only incident he was certain Iya had fit in somewhere was the time he and Beckett had kissed. But how much good could come from confronting her about that? After all, it had largely been prompted as a ruse to save Ryan and Esposito. Rick himself wasn't certain how much his partner's reaction had been real and how much had been to fool the guard. If she wouldn't talk to him about the kiss, he seriously doubted that she would talk to the alien princess about it.

Other than that, the aliens could have used anything, from the time she had arrested him at his book launch party for his last Derrick Storm novel to when she'd said that she and Josh had a chance after the doctor hadn't gone to Haiti.

Although Dr. Motorcycle Boy was no longer an issue.

That was something at least.

A sudden rapid double stomp of Shazzle's front right hoof startled Rick from his thoughts.

"You coming, Castle?" Beckett asked.

Rick looked over to where the detective had been riding beside him to see that she was standing on the ground a couple feet away from the majestic she'd been riding.

"Um, yeah," he said and quickly slid off the majestic's back. "Thanks for the ride," he said to Shazzle before rushing to catch up with the others.

They stood at the edge of a wide moat that surrounded a castle that looked to have been ripped out of a fairytale. With all of the bright colors surrounding them, Rick was somewhat surprised that the structure looked to be made out of some type of gray rock, just like an average European medieval royal dwelling.

Rick expected a drawbridge to be lowered, but instead a group of pale pink creatures that looked like giant seahorses surfaced from the moat's blue depths. Following the aliens' lead, the two humans got on the sea creatures' backs and rode the swift distance to the entrance of the palace.

Whereas the outside of the structure looked like a medieval castle, the inside looked more like his house in the Hamptons, except on a much larger scale. It made him wonder if they had somehow seen it, although if they had, he was sure that Iya would have mentioned it. Posh cream carpeting covered the entryway and the walls looked like they were made of light gray marble. A chandelier even hung from the ceiling, just like the entryway at his beach house.

"Castle, you'll need to come with me," Mam-Biki said.

"But-" Beckett started to protest.

"Iya will show you to the dinning room," Mam-Biki told Beckett, "we will join you in time for breakfast, which will be in a half hour." She turned to Castle. "Come along, Castle. We don't have much time."

For what, Rick wanted to know.

It didn't take long for him to get his answer.

The queen led him to the kitchen, where Rick quickly noticed that no less than twenty male Amourians were gathered. It made him wonder if cooking was considered man's work on Amour.

"You wanted to see me, Grandmother?"

Rick looked down to see a young male Amourian standing in front of the queen. He wondered if the queen's grandchildren were twins; they looked about the same age.

"Yes, thank you for arriving so promptly, Evash," Mam-Biki said. "This is Rick Castle."

"Hi," Evash said, smiling shyly.

"Hey," Rick returned the young alien's informal greeting. It was a refreshing change for him after all of the formality of all of the other aliens he'd met.

"Castle needs you to make your Sludge," the queen said.

Rick's brow rose at that. Sludge? That did _not_ sound like something even he would want to try. S'mor-lets were one thing, but sludge just brought up images of a something he'd find at a garbage dump.

Evash looked as surprised as Castle by the request. "Why?"

"Beckett's coffee tastes just like it," Mam-Biki said.

"It does?" Rick and Evash asked in unison.

"_Exactly_ like it," Mam-Biki assured them with a shudder.

Rick remembered that Iya had told him that it had been Mam-Biki whom had pretended to be Beckett when they were at the precinct. He'd _known_ her reaction to the coffee had been odd that day. Now he knew why.

"Okay," Evash said agreeably and made his way over to the stove, one that looked like an average restaurant stove, except for the pulsating light that shone from the burners.

Evash quickly got to work, pulling boxes from cupboards. He grabbed what Rick guessed was supposed to be a saucepan. Not that it was like any saucepan he had ever seen. For one thing, it looked more like aluminum foil, thin and flat. But the young alien put it on the burner and started dumping ingredients into it. When the first dry substance hit the pan, the foil-looking thing thickened and the edges spread out and up, as if it was dough being formed in a pie pan. Evash added water-Rick could tell that's what it was, because it was one of the few things that looked the same on Amour as it did on Earth-and tapped the burner. Immediately the water started boiling. Evash grabbed what looked to Rick like a giant red toothpick and briskly stirred for a few seconds before tapping the burner again. A bubble formed at the top, which Evash poked with the red stick. Rick quickly backed away, not wanting to get splashed with what he assumed would be scalding liquid. Evash gave him a puzzled look before grabbing the sides of the pan and lifting it off the burner. The bubble simply disappeared and the liquid settled in the pan.

"You need to get the mug," Evash informed him. "They're over there," he said, and pointed over to the far right end of the kitchen.

"Here, these are the courting cups," a male voice said behind Rick when the writer stood staring at the wide variety of mugs in the large cupboard.

Rick turned, glad that he didn't have a cup in his hand. He knew if he had he would have dropped it.

"Courting cup?" he repeated the words in a shocked tone as he looked at the male Amourian before him.

"Ah, my daughter and destined mate failed to inform you about that," the alien said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Alithan, King of Amour. Mam-Biki was supposed to explain the situation to you."

"Situation?" was all Rick could say.

Alithan nodded. "It's a courting ritual that goes back centuries. Destined mates can meet at any time. Some even meet as infants. But no Amourian male is allowed to go courting until he reaches the age of eighteen. To ask his destined mate if she is ready for the courting to commence, the male discovers what the female's favorite morning beverage is and offers it to her. If she accepts it, she is signaling that she is ready. If she refuses, she is letting the male know that she needs more time before their relationship moves to that stage."

Rick didn't know how to reply to that. He had been bringing Kate her favorite coffee for over two years. The first time he had done so had been months before his feelings for the detective had been anything beyond friendship, even if he had been attracted to her since the moment they met.

"I understand that you have been bringing your destined mate her favorite beverage for over a year," Alithan continued. He smiled. "Iya was so excited the day she saw you bring the detective her coffee. She had suspected from the first transmission she saw that you were destined mates, but that's when both she and Mam-Biki were certain of it."

For one of the few times in his life, Rick was speechless. He didn't doubt that he and Beckett were destined to be together. But that certainty hadn't come to him until he had kissed her. He hadn't even been certain of his feelings for her until he almost lost her when Scott Dunn blew up her apartment and he rushed into the burning building to save her.

Rick wasn't sure what to do. Should he give Beckett her coffee, considering the importance the Amourians would put into it?

But if he didn't, Beckett would know something was wrong.

Not letting himself dwell on it, at least at this particular moment, Rick grabbed one of the cups from the shelf the alien king had indicated and poured some of Evash's concoction into it.

At least it smelled like Beckett's coffee usually did.

Rick followed Alithan to the dining room and with shaking hands set the cup in front of Beckett.

"You okay, Castle?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah, sure," Rick said and sat down in the seat next to her after noticing that Alithan sat to the left of Mam-Biki and a male Amourian that Rick hadn't met yet but that he assumed was Iya's brother sat to the left of Alicara.

"Where's Iya's-" Rick asked when he noticed the empty chair to the left of the princess.

"They don't talk about it," Beckett whispered.

"Don't tell me she lost-" Rick began.

Beckett shook her head. "She just told me that she hasn't met her destined mate yet. Since she is twenty years old, it's difficult for her to talk about."

Rick looked over at the princess, who noticed his eyes on her and smiled at him before turning back her attention to Emilan, who sat next to the empty chair by Iya.

"She seems to be taking it well," Rick whispered.

"She confessed that we're a good distraction," Beckett said with a roll of her eyes, although her tone was compassionate.

"And now, we have a surprise for you, Castle," Mam-Biki said.

Rick looked over at the queen and noticed an alien standing next to the queen, a tray in his hands with a bunch of plates piled high with what looked like-

"Is that...?" he asked, his eyes shinning.

Mam-Biki nodded. "S-more-lets," she confirmed. She explained as the alien worked his way around the table, setting plates down across from each being at the table. "Iya wanted to try to make one as soon as she heard you mention it."

"Melt a chocolate bar over the egg, crush one graham cracker over the melted chocolate and add six mini marshmallows," Iya recited.

"It's become a favorite breakfast here at the palace," Mam-Biki said.

"Actually, the whole planet," Iya said. "There aren't many Amourians that don't absolutely love it."

"That's so cool!" Rick exclaimed.

"We know that most humans don't like S'more-lets, however," Alicara said. "So Beckett, if you don't want to try it, or find you don't like it, we can easily replicate one of your regular morning meals. A bear claw, to go with the sluge, I mean coffee, if you wish."

"Sluge?" Beckett looked down uncertainly at the cup in front of her.

"It tastes exactly like your coffee," Mam-Biki assured her. "I had to drink some while pretending to be you at the precinct. It tastes exactly like Evash's sluge concoction. I assure you, everything in it is perfectly safe for an Amourian, so I am certain it would be safe for humans to drink, as well."

"Not that any Amourian would want to drink it," Emilan said with a laugh.

"Not even me," Evash agreed.

Beckett took a tentative sip and smiled. "She's right," she said. "It does taste exactly like it."

"Even the two pumps of sugar free vanilla?" Iya wanted to know.

"Even the vanilla," Beckett confirmed.

"Well, eat up, everyone," Mam-Biki said. "Because after breakfast, it's time for Evash and Emilan, and Castle and Beckett, to go to school."

Rick and Beckett looked at each other and then at the queen.

"School?" they asked in unison.

"Lanie's right, it is cute when they do that," Iya said.

"I graduated from the academy years ago," Beckett said.

"And I graduated from college earlier than that," Rick added.

"Oh, it's not that type of school," Alithan said.

"What kind of school is it?" Beckett asked.

Rick had a feeling she was going to regret the question.

"It's a class for destined mates," Mam-Biki explained. "Specifically, a class on relationship training."

Yep, he was right, Rick decided as he heard Beckett groan in dismay.

She was definitely wishing she hadn't asked.

* * *

><p><strong>I think this might be the longest chapter I've ever written. I tried to start this morning so I could get the last part done, too, but I think I just have to accept the fact that I'm an evening writer. Which is why I usually end up posting so late.<strong>

**So what did you think of Amour? And this chapter in general?**


	11. Chapter 11

**Wow, after seven months this story is FINALLY finished. Thank you so much to everyone that has stuck with me through this. And it took even longer than it needed to for me to post this, because shortly after I posted the last chapter I couldn't log in to the site anymore. I'm going to try to see if I can get this up by using another computer (this computer is so old I can't do upgrades on it anymore, which is what I think is causing the problem with me logging in to this site) or if Natalie Elizabeth can post it by using her computer. If neither of those works, I'll have to wait until I can get a new computer, which might take a few weeks. :(**

**Disclaimer: Honestly, would anyone believe me even if I said I owned it? After my reaction to the two-parter, I don't think so. All I can say beware of spoilers that are nothing more than lies. **

**POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE WHO HAS NOT SEEN UP THROUGH SEASON 4, EPISODE 16. (In the A/N, not the story)**

**(Case in point: the first spoiler I read last May said that the 'ILY's' would be dealt with mid-season, which it would be a stretch to say the two-parter was in that time frame, and you all know what happened there) I never thought I would say this, but I'm going to be spoiler free from now on, with the possible exception of waiting until Natalie Elizabeth has watched the episodes, since she has said she will go ahead and give me 'Liz-type' spoilers. Those are spoilers that answer the two most important questions right now: 1) Did Kate's secret or Castle's secret come out & 2) Did Kate FINALLY admit how she feels to Castle?**

**Oh, and if anyone from the East Coast wants to give me 'Liz-type' spoilers, which will be needed more and more as we get closer and closer to the season finale without their secrets coming out-which sadly, looks very possible, but hopefully it will happen before then (and I will pass the spoilers on to Nat, since she usually can't watch the show until a day or two or more after it airs, and tells you how long I am willing to wait so that I can know what's going to happen before watching an episode) I'll put you in one of my upcoming stories. I've done it before. :) **

**Okay, enough of my mini-venting; trust me, this is no where close to my REAL venting over this issue. :0) **

"There's always a story," Iya began the class by saying, "always a chain of events that makes everything make sense."

Rick wasn't at all surprised that Iya chose to start with those particular words. The princess had certainly seen through the transmitters more than enough of his interactions with Beckett and the rest of the precinct to have at least a general idea of how his mind worked. And, no matter the case, Rick focused on figuring out the stories involved. But those had been situations that involved murder, an unknown phenomenon on Amour.

So what exactly was Iya planning?

Rick looked around the room at the twenty-some aliens that were sitting at their desks. He was a little disappointed at how _normal_ everything looked. Well, except for the aliens. Other than that, though, the room looked like a standard classroom. Desks were situated to form a large 'U' with Iya's larger desk at the front of the room. He and Beckett had been directed to sit at desks that were directly in the middle of the 'U', so that to see Iya all they needed to do was look straight ahead. The carpet that covered the floor was a nondescript brown and the walls were a bland cream color. The view of a rainbow sky and golden grass he could see out the window along the left wall was more unique than anything he could find in the rectangular shaped room.

One thing stood out, though. Rick couldn't think of any classroom where boys and girls would sit comfortably side by side. The students appeared to range in age from ten to eighteen, if he had to hazard a guess. Based on his experiences in school, the younger kids should be acting as if the opposite gender had contaminating germs while the teenagers would be flirting with each other. Instead, they all sat calmly side by side, listening to their teacher.

What type of kids _did _that?

Why weren't they squirming, fidgeting, passing notes-something? Anything other than acting more composed than most adults he knew?

It must be one of those Amourian cultural things that Iya had forgotten to mention him.

"This week we have two special guests," Iya continued. "Rick Castle and Kate Beckett are creatures known as humans on their home planet, which is called Earth. Their world is very different from ours, the least of which is that a human does not immediately recognize his or her destined mate."  
>"How odd," one of the alien students said.<p>

"To us, it is an extremely unusual idea," Iya agreed. "But it's all they have ever known. Were all of you able to watch the transmission message that Emilan sent yesterday?" Beckett shot Rick a puzzled look. He shrugged. Iya hadn't mentioned anything about it to him.

When each of the aliens gave a slight nod, Iya continued. "Excellent. Then you understand that Beckett is one of the individuals who enforce the law on her world and Castle assists her in that task while also gathering research for his fictional stories. They both thrive on solving mysteries. Due to the nature of the mysteries they solve, I have been extremely careful in selecting the transmissions that you will see.

"However, we have our own mystery to solve." Iya rose from her desk and went over to what looked like a regular chalkboard. Iya tapped it with her finger and an all too familiar, and for Rick all too recent, image of the time he and Beckett had been quarantined appeared. "This is the first of three incidents in less than two days time when Castle and Beckett were not entirely certain they would get out of the situation alive." Iya tapped the board again and an image of the time Rick and Beckett had spent trapped in the freezer replaced the previous picture. "This is the second." The princess tapped the board a third time and Rick couldn't hold back a shudder at seeing him and Beckett standing in front of the bomb. If he hadn't pulled those wires... "And here is the third," Iya said.

The princess tapped the board again and the image disappeared. She walked over and sat down at the edge of her desk. She shut her eyes and let out a heavy sigh before opening them again. Rick was startled by the glistening of tears in her eyes.

"Three times," Iya said, "they were close to death and neither one of them expressed how they truly felt. They could have left their world never knowing..."

Rick looked over at Beckett as Iya's voice trailed off. The bland expression on her face threw him. Most of the time the detective's expressions were easy for him to read. Right now he wasn't sure what the look on her face meant.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rick noticed that the female alien sitting nearest to Beckett was fighting back tears. After a quick glance around the room he realized that each and every female alien was having the same problem. The male aliens, Rick noticed, were simply giving him looks of disbelief.

By the time he looked back over at Iya, the princess had seemed to regain control of her emotions.

"The mystery we have to solve," Iya said, "is why? Why would two destined mates, whether they knew that's what they were or not, take such a chance?"

"Yeah, why?" Rick recognized the voice enough to know that it was Evash whom had asked the question.

Rick could give the aliens some insight into the issue, but decided to remain silent. As much as being on an alien planet was the fulfillment of a life-long dream for him, at the moment Beckett was his primary concern. He _was_ curious about what 'evidence' Iya may have come up with, and how it would solve the question she had put before the class. More than that, though, he was worried that the impact the information would have on Beckett. Rather than bring them together, it could instead end up pushing them further apart.

"Before we get to that," Iya said, sliding off the edge of her desk, her feet hitting the floor with a soft thud, "Emilan, it is your turn to lead us in 'The ALWAYS Promise.'"

Rick exchanged a confused look with Beckett. He watched as all around the room aliens turned to each other in pairs. Rick had suspected that the seating arrangement allowed for destined mates to sit together and now he was certain of it. Each pair linked hands, heart-shaped palms touching as they locked gazes with his or her partner. Rick looked over at Iya, whom he noticed had her right hand over her heart and her left arm extended with the palm of her hand facing up, as if in supplication.

"The ALWAYS Promise," Emilan said, and then Iya and all of the students in unison recited:

_I promise to each day_

_ Accept differences between us,_

_ Love unconditionally through every trial,_

_ Wait patiently when we are not on the same relational plane,_

_ Acknowledge needs either of us has,_

_ Yield grievances that would wound our bond,_

_ And stand united with my destined mate in all things,_

_ ALWAYS._

Kate was struggling to keep the bland expression on her face as her emotions crept ever closer to the surface. Keeping the mask in place had been relatively easy until Iya had uttered the words 'The ALWAYS Promise.' Twice Castle had said that to her. The first time she had thanked him for 'having her back in there' when they had gone to save Ryan and Esposito and he said it, "Always." Then, when they had been trapped in the freezer and she had thanked him 'for being there' he had said it again.

Was it possible something similar to this Amourian promise was what he'd had in mind when Castle had said that deceptively simple word?

Kate found that she was actually impatient for whatever 'evidence' Iya had thought up for Castle. At the moment she was just glad that both Castle and Iya were oblivious to that fact.

She didn't have long to wait, for as soon as the 'The ALWAYS Promise' had been recited, the alien students all sat down at their desks and Iya walked back to the transmission screen.

It was odd watching herself walking towards the lifeless body of Alison Tisdale, but it felt even more surreal when the transmission cut over to Castle speaking with his mother and daughter at what Kate recognized as the book launch party for the last of his Derek Storm novels.

Kate wondered if seeing herself onscreen was something she would ever get used to.

Laughter nearly spilled out of the detective when the transmission of her first interrogation of Castle appeared on the screen. He was just so cute!

Not that she had thought so at the time. Or, at least, that hadn't been the thought at the forefront of her mind back then. Instead, she'd been irritated that her favorite author was trying to charm his way out of trouble rather than doing what he could to help her with the investigation. Because even then she hadn't really thought he had anything to do with killing either Tisdale or Fisk. But the victims _had_ been murdered in ways similar to what he'd written in his books 'Flowers For Your Grave' and 'Hell Hath No Fury.'

Other moments that were harmless to Kate's emotional stability followed. Kate wasn't able to keep from rolling her eyes, even though secretly she was still somewhat amused, at the way Castle was proud of knocking Tisdale's killer out with the handcuffs that _Kate _had put on him in a failed attempt to keep him from leaving the car.

There were no images of the murder victims in the scenes that followed, but there were plenty of moments shown where she and Castle built theory together. Kate enjoyed watching those. It had been one of the ways that Castle had made her stressful job more fun, both his crazy theories and the way they could bounce ideas off of each other.

A gasp rippling across the room caused Kate to give Castle a puzzled look. Her expression changed to a look of suspicion at the guilty look in the man's eyes.

"What?" Kate whispered at Castle as on the screen his voice was heard saying, 'Grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar free vanilla.'

"She took the courting cup!" one of the female alien students squealed excitedly, her gaze transfixed on the transmission that showed Kate accepting the coffee that Castle held out.

"The _what_?" Kate's tone was a cross between shocked and horrified. It didn't take her more than an instant for her to figure out what the young alien was talking about. She looked over at Castle, accusation clear in her gaze. The sheepish look in the man's gaze finally made sense. "And you _knew _about this?"

"Not then!" Castle quickly defended himself.

"When, Castle?" Kate demanded to know in a tone that she knew her favorite writer had dubbed her 'interrogation tone.'

"This morning?" Somehow the answer sounded more like a question than an answer to Kate's inquiry.

"This morning," Kate thought back to when Castle had set down what the Amourians had called 'sludge' but tasted exactly like her favorite coffee. "You _knew_ and you still-"

Kate abruptly stopped. She couldn't deal with the implications of that at the moment. Castle's answer to the inquiry could either open the door to giving her what she had recently realized she wanted more than anything-the freedom to love Castle and be loved by him in return. Or he could respond in a way that could crush her hopes forever. The rational part of Kate told her she was being melodramatic, but the emotions churning around inside her made the detective wonder if that was actually true.

Acting as if the conversation had never taken place, she forced the bland expression back on her face and focused all of her attention on the next transmission.

Kate rolled her eyes when the image appeared where Will had told her that Castle liked her. The man had been doped up on pain medicine when he'd made the comment. If Iya was using his declaration as 'evidence' for Castle, Kate had no doubt that the alien would make certain every person that had the slightest inkling that she and Castle were anything more than friends would make an appearance.

By the time Kate's high school friend Maddie said, "You're hot for Castle, you want to make little Castle babies" Kate was certain of it.

An excitedly whispered, "She didn't deny it!" from one of the female students caused Kate's face to flame with embarrassment. She didn't dare look in Castle's direction. Kate's complexion had just regained its normal color when the giggled reaction to Castle's "I heard. Everything" in reaction to Maddie's accusation caused it to flame anew.

Kate was shocked by the urge to grip Castle's hands in both of hers when Demming first appeared on the screen. She had already seen one Castle's memories that she'd experienced via Iya's weird virtual-reality-Freaky-Friday thing, but nothing had surprised her there. Regardless of the questions she had about the depth of the man's feelings, Kate knew they were at least good friends by that point. The frantic way Castle ran to her building and the shock and horror on his face when a large portion of the structure merely exploded didn't mean that his feelings went any deeper than that.

How he reacted to Demming, on the other hand, would tell Kate a lot. Especially since she had experienced Castle's memories of her interactions with the robbery detective first hand.

There was just that nagging question whether Iya had, intentionally or not, altered those memories to fit her assumptions about what the man had really been feeling.

Kate clenched her hands into tight fists to keep them in her lap as she watched the images on the transmission screen.

Watching the Castle on screen walk into the precinct with the two coffees, Kate snuck a quick glance the man beside her.

Was it her imagination or did he seem to tense up a little?

Kate didn't let her eyes linger on Castle, both because it increased the chances that he would catch her staring at him-would he think it was creepy?-and because she didn't want to miss any evidence the transmissions provided.

It made Kate wonder if Iya had done it on purpose. After all, the alien princess had chosen which of Castle's memories Kate would experience, so it was possible.

But this was supposed to be Castle's evidence, not hers.

The question left as fast as it arrived as much more important thoughts raced to the forefront of Kate's mind.

So far, the expressions on Castle's face matched what Kate remembered experiencing. It was obvious that the man felt superfluous.

How could she have been so blind back then? Even if Castle's ritual of giving her coffee nearly every time he first arrived at the precinct or a crime scene didn't have the depth of meaning it did on Amour, she knew it was something special she shared with her partner. True, she had been fascinated by Demming. After all, the man had been single, handsome and a fellow cop. A detective, even.

But when Esposito had pointed out that Demming was probably the reason that Castle was leaving for the summer, if not for good, Kate didn't need to think twice: if she had to choose between Castle and Demming, she knew whom she couldn't bear to lose.

And it wasn't Demming.

The color drained from her face as she realized that in a matter of minutes Castle would be able to see all too clearly how his leaving impacted her. She nervously looked over at him again, startled at the flash of pain that crossed his face.

Why-?

Kate turned her attention back to the screen just in time to watch the Kate on screen share a soft kiss with Demming.

Her gaze quickly flew back to Castle, but he wasn't looking at the screen. Instead, he was looking towards the window, as if the golden grass suddenly held some strange fascination for him.

It only lasted a moment, and the man's expression was serene when he looked over at Kate. He gave her a small smile before turning his attention back to the front of the room.

The detective was relieved that the unease she was starting to feel wasn't evident to the normally observant writer. Merely a brief reprieve, she knew. Because when the transmissions showed Kate's real reaction to Castle's leaving, there was no way the man would miss it.

The shocked tone of Kate calling out, "Castle?" and the three detectives ordering Castle "Dude, dude drop the gun," and "Drop the gun, scumbag" and "Drop the gun, stupid!" filled the room.

Wait, this couldn't be right. That was after Castle had returned from his summer in the Hamptons and she, Ryan and Esposito had caught the writer standing over a dead woman with a gun in his hand.

Where were the transmissions of Kate's conversation with Esposito, her conversation with Roy, her conversation with _Castle_?

What was Iya doing? It didn't make any sense. If she was trying to give Castle the evidence he needed of Kate's feelings, there was no way she would leave those transmissions out.

The class roared with laughter as they watched on the transmission as Kate ordered Castle to turn around and clap the handcuffs on him.

She thought she had figured out the way the Amourian mind worked, but obviously she still had a lot to learn. What could possibly be humorous about Castle being arrested for murder?  
>Iya touched the screen, her own eyes dancing with mirth, and the image paused.<p>

"You didn't seriously think he had done it, did you?" Evash asked.

"Yeah, I mean, it's _Castle_!" Emilan added.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys," Castle said, the delight clear in his voice.

"You don't need to be a detective to figure out he'd never do anything like that," the male alien sitting next to Emilan said.

Kate didn't miss the tinge of reproach in the alien's tone. Directed at her, obviously.

For a brief moment Kate thought of explaining the way things worked on Earth, the procedures that every homicide detective had to follow. But she knew it would be a wasted effort. More likely, the aliens would give her a bunch of reasons why Castle couldn't have done the crime.

Defensiveness caused Kate to glare at Iya. It wasn't like Kate had thought that Castle had actually committed the murder. Her shock and anger had been more over how careless the man had been. His actions were worse than that of a rookie. Heck, even anyone who had seen at least one of the many cop shows on TV would know not to do what the man who had shadowed her for a whole year had done.

Thankfully Iya tapped the transmission board again and the beginning of Kate's interrogation of Castle appeared. It was all Kate could do not to groan at the weakness of Castle's alibi and the flimsy excuses he gave.

"Told you," Emilan said as the image of the captain telling Kate the bullets that caused the victim's death hadn't matched the gun Castle had been holding.

"Hey!" Castle cried out after he saw the way that the detectives and captain had deliberated keeping him in a holding cell even after he obviously wasn't the killer.

"What did I do?" the Castle sitting beside her asked at the same time as the Castle on the screen.

"Yeah, what did he do?" a female student wanted to know.

Kate shook her head at him, silently asking him to drop it. She couldn't go into that now. Not until she knew for sure how Castle really felt about her. And there was one more image she needed to see before she could be absolutely certain.

As if Iya knew Kate couldn't take much more, scenes with Josh-or Gwappo, as she now knew he was called-were the next to fill the screen. She looked over at Castle, whose jaw was clenched and whose eyes were burning with anger.

Kate had to remind herself that his reaction could have _everything_ to do with what happened once he learned Josh was an alien and _nothing_ to do with any feelings he might have for her. Just because the scenes with Demming had bothered him, didn't mean that the images with Josh would affect him the same way. And if they didn't, she would have proof of what she had feared when he didn't contact her once over the summer: that whatever feelings he might have had for her had died a swift death. She just couldn't let herself hope that the experience she'd had feeling his emotions seeing her with Josh was real until she had irrefutable evidence. The cost of being wrong would be too high.

For a brief moment thankfulness flooded Kate when the image of her moment with Josh at the precinct appeared. Finally, the waiting was over. Either way, in the next few moments, she would know how Castle had really felt that day.

Immediately she looked over at Castle, wishing she had the courage to plead with him to let her know the truth about how that had affected him.

And wouldn't _that _be the height of hypocrisy?

But she didn't need to ask. The pain was clear in the man's eyes. Shame flooded Kate at the way the writer looked her directly in the eye, every emotion he felt clear in his gaze.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and, needing to get a few moments to herself more than she needed to keep up the appearance of being unaffected by it all, Kate did what she did best.

She ran.

By the time Beckett hurried out of the room, Iya hadn't been at all surprised by the detective's reaction to everything that had gone on that day. The princess knew that the woman was a master at hiding her emotions, but the mask had started to slip once Emilan had recited 'The ALWAYS Promise.'

That was why she had decided against showing Castle the images of how his leaving over the summer had affected the detective. True, she had let him see the interrogation and Kate's reaction immediately afterwards, but it wasn't anything he didn't already know.

What he hadn't known was the 'why' of it all.

Iya had been planning to show those images that would have enabled the writer to understand exactly why Beckett, and the rest of his friends at the precinct, had reacted like they did. Until she saw how often the woman kept looking over at Castle, as if trying to figure out his reaction to what was on the screen.

For some reason, Beckett hadn't trusted the memories of Castle's that she experienced. Iya had a feeling that whatever she had seen in the writer's eyes had erased whatever doubts the woman had left.

Confused mummers rippled through the classroom as soon as Beckett could no longer be seen.

"Please, let me," Iya said to Castle, who after remaining frozen in shock for a brief moment, had hurried to his feet and started making his way across the room. "We can't risk her shutting you out again," Iya whispered for the writer's ears only as the man made his way past her desk. Castle froze. "Please, just a few minutes," she pleaded.

"Five minutes," Castle agreed after a long moment.

"Thank you," Iya whispered and rushed out the door.

Iya couldn't keep the tears from welling up in her eyes when she saw the detective sitting against a wall, her arms wrapped around her knees, her forehead resting on her arms.

The alien princess was at a loss for words, something as rare for her as it was for Castle. If she knew what Beckett was thinking, she might have some idea of how to help, but at the moment, she was clueless.

Maybe she should have just sent Castle.

Iya was just about to ask Beckett if she'd rather talk to Castle when the last words the alien had expected left the woman's lips.

"He needs to know," Beckett said, lifting her head and meeting Iya's concerned gaze.

"Castle?" Iya didn't know who else Beckett could be referring to, but she wanted to make sure.

"Castle needs to know," Beckett confirmed. "He needs to see them. The images you didn't show him. My talk with Esposito, with Roy, with..." Beckett's voice trailed off.

"If you're sure," Iya said.

"He needs to know," Beckett said. "_I_ need him to know. And I don't think I could bring myself to tell him. But I need you to show him." She drew in a shuddering breath and let it out slowly. "Because I can't."

Iya nodded in understanding. For reasons Iya had never been able to figure out, sharing her emotions was incredibly difficult for the detective.

"Do you need a break first?" Iya asked.

Beckett shook her head and got to her feet. "But we need to see it alone," she said. "It's going to be difficult enough..."

"Yeah, of course," Iya said. When she saw Beckett wince, Iya felt like Lanie should give her the smack that she had threatened Beckett with more than once. "It won't be like that," she rushed to reassure her, knowing that she had thoughtlessly used Castle's exact words when Kate had asked to talk to him alone mere minutes before Gina showed up. "Gina's not an issue anymore, remember?"

Beckett nodded and merely watched as Iya went back inside.

"That's it for today," Iya said to her class once she returned to her desk. The groans from the class made her lips curve in a slight smile. She understood their disappointment all too well.

"But I had such a great theory!" Emilan protested.

"Which was what?" Evash wanted to know.

"You know," Emilan said.

Iya couldn't help but chuckle at that. Not only was that one of her niece's most common phrases, but it was probably the truth. Those two could communicate without words even better than Castle and Beckett could. She figured it had something to do with them being twins. Because on Amour usually only twins and destined mates had that particular ability.

"That they have to almost die a certain number of times before they can admit they're destined mates," Emilan said, replying to her brother's query and explaining her theory.

"Maybe," Evash said. "Or maybe they have to be almost murdered first."

"But that happened already," Emilan reminded her brother. "When her apartment blew up, remember?"

"What if it doesn't have to do with near-death experiences at all?" Emilan's destined mate asked. "What if they both have to not be dating someone else at the time? After all, Beckett was still with Dr. Motorcycle Boy, right?"

Iya shook her head. Knowing what Gwappo had gone through, she didn't find the nickname as amusing as she once had. But she didn't want to waste time explaining all of that to the kids now.

"They're all good theories," Iya said, "But right now, we need to go."

Although most of the students grumbled amongst themselves, they all made their way out the side door. They may not understand what exactly had happened, but Iya knew they realized that she wanted them to stay away from Beckett, who had yet to return to the classroom, and so they automatically used the door that led directly out to the back yard.

"Where's Kate?" Castle demanded to know as soon as the last student had left the room.

"Right here," Beckett said, standing in the doorway she had so recently ran through to make her escape.

"Kate, what's going on?" Castle asked.

Beckett looked over at Iya, who nodded and picked up the transmission controller, a flat, long silver metal like object. She tapped it ten times in rapid succession before setting it back down again.

"It's all set up," Iya said. "All you need to do is tap the transmission screen and you'll get the images you requested. You do want them in chronological order, correct?"

"Yes, thank you," Beckett said.

As much as Iya wanted to watch how everything would play out, she forced herself to quietly leave the room.

Maybe if she was lucky, she would be able to see it all on a transmission later, anyway.

For the first time ever, Kate didn't even try to hide her emotions from Castle. The tears that threatened to fall, her flushed cheeks, her shuddered breathing; she let him see it all.

"Kate, are you all right?" Castle asked her worriedly.

"I will be," was all Kate could say. When he continued to remain standing by Iya's desk, his eyes searching her gaze, Kate said, "Castle, I need you to sit down."

"Kate-"

The concerned hesitation in his voice tore at Kate's heart. How could she possibly have doubted this man's complete devotion to her?

"Please, Castle," she pleaded, her tone soft. "I need you to see this."

"See what?" Castle asked.

Kate closed her eyes for a moment as she said, "Why we all reacted the way we did after you came back from the Hamptons." She opened her eyes and continued. "It's what Iya didn't show you. What I asked her to show you."  
>"<em>You<em> asked her to?"

Kate smiled at the shock in her partner's tone. The smile quickly dropped from her lips as she realized that each moment that passed, letting him know what was in her heart was going to get harder.

"Yes Castle, I asked her to," Kate said. "It's what she would have shown you if her only goal had been giving you the evidence she wanted you to have."

"But that wasn't it, was it?" Castle said. Although it was a question, there was no doubt in his voice as he said it.

"No, it wasn't," Kate agreed. "She realized that you weren't the one that needed convincing. I was."

"Kate, you don't need to do this," Castle said, lightly putting his hands on her shoulders and locking her gaze with his. "It doesn't matter what any alien thinks, what anyone back on Earth thinks, or what the universe thinks. What is important is what we think. More than anything, I want you to be happy, Kate. And I think you know that."

"I do," Kate agreed, unable to stop the blush as a brief fantasy flashed through her mind where she would be saying those words again, but instead of being in an alien classroom, they would be in a church. Or maybe at Central Park; did they do ceremonies there? Or maybe the loft. Or...

"Kate?" Castle's voice snapped Kate out of her daydreaming and reminded her that they had a _long_ way to go before they reached that point.

"You're right, Castle," she said and rushed on when she saw the resignation fill his eyes. "It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. But the thing is, they're right. Iya, Mam-Biki, Esposito, Lanie; they're all right."

Kate felt the full emotional impact of Castle's beaming smile. His eyes sparkling in that way that was uniquely his, he walked over to the desk Iya had assigned him and sat down. After giving the transmission screen a gentle tap, Kate sat down beside him, taking his hand in hers.

"It will be okay, whatever it is," Castle whispered, lightly kissing her on the temple. His comment made Kate aware of how tightly she was clinging to his hand and she made herself loosen her grip so that her hand was just resting lightly in his. Castle would have none of that, however, and tightened his own grip before turning his attention to the transmission screen.

Kate couldn't prevent herself from flinching as she watched Castle telling her that it would be their last case. The shell-shocked expression she had kept from the writer by keeping her face averted showed clearly on the screen. By the time that scene ended, she was clutching her partner's hand even harder than she had been to begin with.

As they watched her conversation with Esposito, Kate had moved so that their shoulders were touching. By the time Kate listened to her screen self say, "Yes, it is sad," to the Captain when he mentioned someone dying because the people involved were too scared to say how they felt, Castle put his arm around her and drew her to him. After a split second of hesitation, Kate laid her head on his shoulder.

The arm around her tightened slightly as writer and detective watched as Kate broke up with Demming.

"Before I left?" Castle whispered, his tone more regretful than shocked.

All Kate could do was nod.

When the transmission of his going away party that was supposed to be a surprise but wasn't appeared on the screen, Kate couldn't watch anymore. She hid her face in Castle's shoulder, her eyes squeezed shut.

Hearing the tender note in Castle's voice as he spoke to Gina, Kate felt the tears that had been brimming in her eyes start to fall. She was thankful that Castle kept watching rather than reacting further to her obvious emotional turmoil. This whole thing had been difficult enough to go through the first time. Seeing, or in this case hearing it again amplified to her how difficult that day had been.

Once the room went silent, Kate lifted her head off Castle's shoulder and forced herself to meet his gaze. She could feel the way tears clung to her lashes and the wetness of the drops that slipped slowly down her cheeks. The loving tenderness in his eyes dulled the edges of the pain that still ached in her heart.

"I'm sorry," he said after a moment, his hand cupping her cheek. His thumb caught a couple of the teardrops that finally reached her jaw line.

"You're sorry?" Kate said. "I'm the one who's sorry. I was too late. I waited too long. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"But if I had waited-"

"When you didn't even know there was anything to be waiting for?" Kate shook her head in amazement. "Castle, I should have told you as soon as I realized. I just-"

"Wanted to do things in the right order and break up with Demming first?" Castle supplied.

"And-"

Castle again supplied the missing words, "You still had a lingering doubt that maybe I was the playboy type that the media portrays me as?"

"A little," Kate admitted. "But mostly I was just scared. Even though I didn't believe in soul mates back then, and I'd never heard of destined mates until a little more than a week ago when Iya and Mam-Biki first mentioned them, I think even then a part of me realized that I was going to be opening my heart to my 'one and done.'"

"And now?" Castle prompted.

Kate knew he didn't say the words for himself, but for her. To give her the encouragement she suddenly realized she needed.

"And now I _know_ that's what I'm doing," Kate said, lifting a hand to Castle's cheek and caressing it like he was doing to hers.

"I love you Kate," Castle told her seriously. "Always. And I mean that both in our definition of the term," Kate knew he was referring to having her back and being there whenever she needed him, "and the Amourian one."  
>"Me, too," Kate finally told him. Yes, finally. It had seemed to her mind to take forever for her to finally get the courage to say those all-important words. "I love you, Rick." It felt odd using his first name, something she generally seemed to do when she was pushing him away. But she had a feeling that even when they fought-which, she had to be realistic, even destined mates fought; why else would they need Iya to perform the role of a marriage counselor. "And there's something I want to do," she said, as she dropped the hand that was caressing his cheek gently wrapped it around the wrist of his hand that was at her cheek. Understanding lighting his gaze, Castle held out his hands and Kate touched her palms to his, their fingers folding together.<p>

"The ALWAYS Promise," they said together, looking each other directly in the eyes. "I promise to each day..."

For some reason, Kate didn't find it odd that she and Castle both seemed to have the pledge memorized, even though they'd both only heard it once. She figured it must be a destined mate thing.

They both laughed when they heard a faint, "Yes!" Obviously Iya hadn't gone as far away as they thought.

"And just think," Castle said. "If there any marks on our necks when we get back, we can tell Ryan and Esposito-"

"Yes, they really are hickies," Kate said the rest of his thought with him, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. But the affect was blown when a moment later she smiled wide, her eyes brimming with amusement.

Yep, that was her Castle alright. Tender one moment, a goofball the next.

How could she help but give her heart to a man like that?

**I would be totally shocked if this is not my longest chapter ever. I have NO idea of the # of words, but its 12 pages. That's quite a bit. :)**

**Please R&R. I'm really curious how you guys liked the conclusion of this one.**

**And just FYI, I'm going to wait until I finish the next story before I start posting, so I can post a chapter a day. I do NOT like a long time between updates, especially with my stories. So it just might be a while before I post another story.**

**Next up, 'Purrfect Love.' How is Kate going to tell Castle how she feels when a gypsy has just turned her into a cat?**

**After that, 'Wisdom Of The Force." Kate and Castle get some much needed relationship advice from characters from the original Star Wars trilogy. This idea is still percolating in my head, but Luke, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewie, C-3PO and R2-D2 may make an appearance. But make an appearance, Yoda definitely will.**

**And then, 'Bachelor Auction.' What is Kate going to do when Castle takes part in a New York City celebrity bachelor auction?**


End file.
